


Experimental Blessing

by dondena



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-26
Packaged: 2018-03-15 10:32:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 30
Words: 61,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3443888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dondena/pseuds/dondena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Donny is captured for an experiment that he doesn't want to happen. Will he be able to escape and see his family again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was spring right now and the weather was gorgeous this time of year. It was great out for doing things outside. All creatures loved being outside. Including the ninja turtles. 

The guys were all just out enjoying a good run most of their nights out on patrol, but would always be more than willing to gladly protect someone in need, and loved foiling bad guys’ plans. But it was also because of what the turtles did to stop the bad guys why the bad guys hated the turtles so much. 

One night, there had been a girl in trouble being cornered by some Purple Dragons and the turtles stepped in to help her. But while this was going on, another woman and some bodyguards were passing through at the same time and heard the racket going on in the alley. 

This woman, as she watched, she became enthralled by these big, human sized turtles. She had to find out more about them. They were unlike anything she had ever seen before. 

She saw that they saved the woman and beat up the punks threatening her. But she didn’t stick around to do much more. The watch woman and her bodyguards stayed out of the way. Then they saw the four turtles jump back to the safety of the rooftops. 

She and her men went down the alley to talk to these punks as they were waking up. 

“Hello boys. I saw what you were doing and you should know better.” She said. 

“Aww, look. Another girl we can have fun with.”

“I don’t think so. See, these are my bodyguards. Dare to mess with them?” 

The punks took one look at her men and were instantly intimidated. 

“What do you want?” One punk with blonde spiked hair asked nervously. 

“I want to know about those turtles that you were fighting. Do you have information about them?” She demanded. 

“They are a menace to this city! They often beat us up just because of what we do to try to have some fun.” 

“Well, raping women is not considered fun. But I want to know everything you know about those turtles. Do you know of anyone who might?” 

“Who are you, girl?” 

“My name is Beatrice Stanley. I am one of the richest young women in this city. And I always long to get what I want. Now tell me.” 

The punks talked of what they knew, but also told her she could talk to the leader of the Purple Dragons, Hun, who could tell her more. 

Beatrice went to this Hun and she was more than happy to pay him to tell her everything he knew of the turtles. 

Hun didn’t know much about the turtles’ personal lives, but he knew what the turtles were like out on the streets. The one in blue was the leader, the one in purple was the smart one, the one in red was the fighter, and the one in orange was the jokester. 

Beatrice was enthralled at the thought of the smart one. She wanted to know more about him. But just wanting to know about all the turtles at the same time, to see which one was the best one to get for herself. 

Hun knew of someone else who might be able to help her out there. The Foot’s new leader, Karai, would more than likely be able to help her out as she had been close friends with the turtles once. She was about the only other person he could approach. And another might have been the mysterious Agent Bishop, but he wasn’t so easy to find. 

She was referred to Karai of the Foot Headquarters, and Beatrice and her men headed there. 

Once in Karai’s office, meeting her, she was impressed with how much this Japanese woman knew of these mutant reptiles. 

“But what is it that you could possibly have to offer me should I help you get the turtles?” Karai asked. 

“I have an interest in the smart one. Could he actually be the most dangerous of them all, considering what he is capable of doing? If I could have him, you could deal with the ones that are not that smart.” Beatrice said. 

“What you say makes sense. I will grant you this request. But when you get him, what do you intend to do with him?” Karai asked. 

“That’s my personal business, but let’s just say, special plans.” 

Karai and her Foot minions began planning a capture for Donatello. Beatrice left the headquarters and began her own planning. She began to buy animals for scientific experiments. She wanted to wait to get the turtle for a little bit yet. She wanted to see if her experiments would work. 

Karai granted Beatrice some of her top scientists to work for her for these experiments.

They thought it was bizarre when they found out what they were going to be helping her with. 

She wanted to make sure it was going to work first. She worked on getting male animals pregnant and carrying the babies to term. Without the right reproductive organs, it was going to be a challenge. 

Many of the experiments failed, but there was one that worked. The baby made it to term. 

Through a technique from a tube, some hormones and such, a superficial womb was made for the baby using some kind of alien technology too. The womb would grow as the baby would, but it had to be around one of the lower organs in the digestive system. It would be attached, but wouldn’t harm the organs. 

The baby though would always have to be born by open stomach surgery. 

It had taken most of the rest of the year for these experiments to take place. Now that it was done, she was ready to have her turtle retrieved.


	2. Chapter 2

During the time the experiments were all being done, the turtles were observed in many different places throughout the city. Beatrice wanted to know what they were like when they weren’t being attacked. But she sent out her own special devices to capture on film what they were doing. Sending out human minions would only get them caught and possibly hurt. 

From what she learned of the turtles, Beatrice learned that her chosen turtle liked to go to the junkyard the most, and sometimes would go there alone. That would be the best place to get him. With no brothers around to protect him.   
…………….

Don’s brothers did trust him to go to the junkyard alone. But lately, whenever the turtles went out at all, there were increased Foot patrols. Leo didn’t like this one bit. He warned Don to be careful. 

“The Foot’s never attacked me in the junkyard before, but yes, Leo, you can count on that I’ll be careful.” Don told his leader. 

This night, Donny needed some more supplies to help fix the security systems in the lair and the surrounding sewer tunnels. He hadn’t the slightest hunch of what would happen to him. 

Don was looking for circuit boards and certain types of wires in the mounds of trash in the junkyard. Suddenly, he thought he heard a sound coming from somewhere close by. Sounding like footsteps. 

He knew he couldn’t be seen. He just thought it was a security officer. He got out of the trash and went to hide. But then, he heard it.

“No use hiding, Turtle. We know you’re there.” 

Don didn’t move. 

“Come out of there, Turtle.” 

When Don did decide to move, he instantly removed his Bo from his belt. He came into view. He instantly got into a battle stance. 

“Good turtle. Now the fun can begin.” 

Don could only see one man. “We’ll see about that.” Don laughed. He began twirling his Bo. 

But then, his smile dropped when he saw a bunch of other ninjas come out of hiding. Don knew he was seriously outnumbered. But he could fight and still get away. He would have to go looking for circuit boards another night. 

The ninjas attacked him and he hit many away with his Bo. Some he tripped with his own feet, and kicked some away, and eventually, he used his Bo to leap over the ninjas as he had had enough and was trying to escape. 

“Don’t let him get away!” 

Don ran for all he had in him. He regretted not bringing one of the vehicles with him. He had to get away before they would do who knows what to him. The memory of that dimension briefly flashed into his mind. He wasn’t going to let his family lose him. 

As he was closing in on some buildings, intending to get to the rooftops, Don felt something like stinging needles pierce his legs. The pain forced him to stop. 

He fell to the ground and pulled the darts out of his legs, but now, the ninjas surrounded him. His vision was beginning to black out. 

“I’ll never say anything!” Don snapped before he went unconscious. 

“That’s just fine. The woman who wants you doesn’t want your family anyway.” 

Don’s duffel bag was taken off his back and his Bo was left on the ground. His phone was also taken off of him and destroyed. They knew that the new woman didn’t want Donatello tracked down. 

His hands were tied up behind him in case he woke up too soon. Then they picked him up and carried him to a transport truck.   
…………..

Leonardo had known his brother was going out for supplies tonight, but he started to get worried when Don didn’t come home toward sunrise. Raph and Mikey had gone to bed a few hours ago, but Leo had insisted to stay up and wait for him. He was tired, but he was very concerned. 

“Come on, Don. Where are you?” Leo said softly. He was going to be in for a lecture when he got home. 

When he finally couldn’t take it any longer, he called Don’s shell cell number and all he got was static. That was weird. There would only be one reason for that; Don was in trouble! 

Leo went and awoke Raph and Mikey. “Don’s in trouble! We have to go after him!” 

Raph hadn’t been the most pleased to be woken up before he was ready, but he snapped out of it when he heard what Leo had said. 

The trio rushed out of the lair in the Battle Shell. As daylight was coming on, they knew it was safer than running on the rooftops. They were going to find him.   
…………….

When Donatello began to stir, he wondered how long he had been out. He tried to rub his dizzy head, but found that he was tied down. When his vision focused, he saw he was in a dark room with some lights on, but they weren’t shining in his eyes, thank heaven. 

Don raised himself up on his elbows. His wrists were tied down, but saw that his legs weren’t tied down at the moment. He began to struggle to get free. 

“Good to see you’re finally awake.” It was a female voice. 

Don froze at the voice. He looked around. “Who… who are you?” He swallowed in fear. “What do you want?” 

Beatrice stepped into the light. “So nice to finally be able to hear your voice up close. It definitely speaks a gentle soul.” 

Don wasn’t sure what to say. “Uh, thanks. But what do you want with me?” 

“I am Beatrice Stanley. One night, you and your brothers caught my attention and I had to have you. At least once I learned about you. You sounded like the most intriguing to have for a certain experiment.”

The way she was already talking was making Don so nervous. “I won’t let you hurt my brothers!” 

“Don’t worry. I won’t have anything to do with that. I don’t want anything to do with them. In fact, they’ll never find you anyway. You’re in a place far away from the city you were found in.” 

Don’s breathing picked up. “They’ll find me! We always find each other!” 

“If they ever do, it won’t be before I’m through with you.” 

Don tried not to show that he was scared. “What are you going to do?” 

“I’ve done some experiments with other males and only one came out a success. So this experiment should work on you too.” 

Donatello struggled some more. He didn’t care where he was; he would get back to his family one way or another. He didn’t want to be part of any experiment. 

“I’m not sure how truly smart you are, but I’ve been told you are capable of doing things that only mere scientists and engineers could only dream of doing.” 

‘If you let me loose, I’ll show you how smart I can be.’ Don thought to himself. 

“There are going to be tests on what you know. And the experiment itself is going to replicate your smarts many times over.” 

Don’s eyes widened. “What do you mean, replicate my smarts?” 

“I’ve heard all of your voices through videos, and I liked yours the most. You are the most perfect one for this. You also seem to be the gentlest of the bunch.” 

Don could agree with that, but just because he was that way, didn’t mean he was going to let anyone take advantage of him without a fight. 

“The other tests will only commence once my main experiment has been a success. But to answer your questions about what I truly want with you and replicating your smarts, what I mean is: replicating your genes.” 

Now that really had the turtle’s eyes going wide. He wouldn’t let her do it! 

“Any offspring of yours would be most likely to inherit such a great mind and be a genius like yourself.” 

“No! Don’t do it, please!” Don now knew why his legs weren’t tied down, and just for that, he brought them close to his body. A chill of fear settled in the pit of his stomach. 

“And seeing and knowing that your little family was short on females, you are going to be playing the role of both parents.” 

“NO!” Don tried to get free. He didn’t want to take part in this. “I can’t do this!” 

“Oh, but you can, and you will. I think this is going to begin right now, Donatello.” Beatrice said. “And such a beautiful name too.” 

Don didn’t hear that. He was desperately trying to get away. 

“Stop that struggling, you won’t get loose.” 

“I won’t let you do this!” 

Beatrice called for assistance. Then she came over to the struggling turtle. She made sure to stay clear of his legs so he wouldn’t kick out. But he was keeping them so close to his body and his tail clamped down. 

Some men came in and he saw a good sized device in their hands and he knew what they were going to do.


	3. Chapter 3

Leo, Raph, and Mikey had found Don’s things in the junkyard. Without his shell cell, there was no way of tracking him down. This was not good. They all became concerned. But who would take him? 

There was always the Foot or Bishop who could have found him. They would get their brother back. Raph was so ready to pound their heads in. 

But they would have to wait until tonight. Reluctantly, they went home because it was daytime. They now had the unpleasant duty to tell Master Splinter that Donatello was missing.   
………………

Beatrice didn’t like Don’s squirming, so she climbed onto the table, making him panic even more. She then turned her back on him and climbed on top of his stomach. 

“Get off of me!” He cried out. 

She began the tedious task of trying to pull Don’s legs apart. Two other men came over and helped to part them. 

Don tried with all his might to keep his legs together, but it was no use. They were held apart. He still held his tail clamped to his body. 

“Now the final part.” 

Don felt his tail being touched and he cried out in fear. “Agh! DON’T PLEASE! DON‘T TOUCH ME!” 

His tail was held though the muscle that controlled it tried pulling it back. 

Beatrice tried rubbing the area in an attempt to get the turtle aroused. Don just continued to fight however. 

When nothing was happening, she got off of him and he finally relaxed a bit. 

“I figured that as a male turtle, you’d be interested in having a sexual need satisfied. This could help to satisfy that urge. Just let yourself out, Donatello, or we’ll have to resort to more drastic measures.” 

“I won’t let you do this to me!” He snapped at her. “Just let me go!” 

“I have had some x-rays and ultrasounds done on you and there are couple good spots in the belly that look good to hold the embryo.” 

“There’s no embryo, and there’s not going to be any!” 

“Yes, there is. Give it to him.” Beatrice ordered, and Don looked as she moved out of the way, and another man stepped forward. He had a syringe in his hand. 

Don saw it and tried to move away from him, but the man grabbed onto Don’s left leg and gave him the injection. Then he backed off. 

“It won’t be long now.” The woman said. 

Indeed, it wasn’t long before Donatello felt a feeling down in his lower belly that got to be so painful that he finally had to let himself out. He was so erect he was ready for the urge to be satisfied. 

“Stick that AV on him.” Beatrice ordered. 

“Very well.” 

Two men had grabbed Don’s legs again and kept them apart. The third man came forward, grabbed Don’s member and put it into the AV. Don winced at the pain of being touched. But once inside, Don could feel it was nice and warm. Like body heat. The urge was too strong and Don began to instinctively thrust into the AV. The drugs in his system were forcing him to. 

Don also couldn’t resist the urge to churr, that this was a good feeling. His animal instincts had taken over. 

Beatrice had never heard such a sound before, but she allowed it. It was a cute sound. 

Don had started out slow, but with some assistance from the man with the AV, it got Don to pick up his pace. And it didn’t take long for Don to spill his seed directly into the AV. There was some final pumping and it got Don to finish hard. He winced at the force it made him give. All of his seed was pumped from him. 

Don laid back against the table, sweaty and breathless. He was breathing hard. 

“Wow! He sure gave a good amount! This thing is full!” The AV man announced as he removed the device off of Don’s member. 

“You did a good job, Donatello. I think we’ll be collecting some more.” Beatrice said. 

Don looked over at her, startled. He shook his head. “No, please no.” 

“Don’t worry. I can clearly see you are exhausted. It will be later on. For now, you can relax, but I still do have my eye on the prize for the future.” She said. “A few more collections and then it will truly begin.” She gave his exposed belly a rub. 

Don tried to jerk away from her touch. His member had already begun to go back to normal and he pulled himself back into his hidden pocket. 

He felt more than humiliated. Then the two men that had held his legs apart let go and came up to his arms and undid the restraints. They got a good grip on his arms and pulled him to his feet. 

The turtle was so exhausted he felt he could barely stand. They pulled him along, but not too hard on him. 

Donny was taken to a cell that had a bed in it, a toilet, and a sink. But the downfall was that there were also shackles in this room. They were put on his wrists and locked. They weren’t too tight to cut off blood circulation, but they were tight enough. 

Don immediately went to the bed and curled himself against the wall. He wrapped his arms around himself and had his legs close to his body. He couldn’t help but begin to cry. He wasn’t here that long and already he had been tortured. He trembled in fear of what else they were going to do to him. 

He really didn’t want to endanger a baby. Being pregnant with one would only endanger its life and his. And he didn’t want any scientists to get their hands on a child of his. He had to escape before this Beatrice could succeed with this plan, though he felt the idea of being able to get him pregnant was slim to none anyway.   
……………

It hurt to see the look on Master Splinter’s face when he had heard that his son had been kidnapped. All of his brothers were in pain too. 

April, Casey, and even Leatherhead were notified throughout the day and they got just as upset. 

Donny was like a thread that held the family together. They all needed his level head, his tech savvy mind, and his ability to be their family doctor. Life would never be the same without him. They were all going to help look for him. 

Later than night, the turtles brought Master Splinter to the place they had found Don’s stuff and he sniffed around to see if he recognized the scent of who could have kidnapped him. 

“I do smell humans, and they are familiar. It was the Foot!” Splinter said angrily. 

“I’m so ready to pound their heads in!” Raph growled. 

“Let’s go get our brother back!” Leo gave the order.   
………………

Don didn’t move from his spot on the bed. He stayed huddled against the wall, making himself as small as possible, just trying to protect himself from letting anyone do that to him again. 

Then, his door was unlocked and he saw Beatrice walk in. She was alone, and she had something in her hands. 

“Please go away.” Don pleaded. 

“Donatello, I brought you some food.” She said. “I know you’re scared at being away from home and your family right now, but you still need to eat.” 

“I’m not hungry.” 

“Look, Donny, I’m not leaving until you do eat something. And you can eat naturally for me, or we can do it the hard way. What’s it going to be?” 

Don looked up at her with a glare. “It’s Donatello to you. And I don’t want anything!” 

“You sure? It’s a grilled cheese sandwich. I figure you might eat what humans eat.” 

Don could smell the sandwich. It had been many hours since his last meal. His stomach gave off a small growl. But despite his small hunger, he was still wary. 

Beatrice saw the look he was giving her. “I promise it’s not poisoned or drugged. You do need nutrition in your body. And I’m not leaving until you are fed. So what’s your choice?” 

“Fine! I’ll take it!” Don said. 

He moved just enough to take the plate from her and he ate the sandwich reluctantly. 

“Don’t eat it too fast or you’ll make yourself sick.” 

After chewing and swallowing the first bite, he snapped, “What do you care?!” 

“I care. You are going to be doing important things before long and I don’t want you sick or hurt.” She said. 

“I have more important things to do at home with my family than what you want me to do!” 

“I’m sure your family can take care of themselves.” 

“They need me! They’ll stop at nothing to find me.” 

“They’re going to have one tough time finding you though.” 

Don finished his sandwich quickly. “Get out and leave me alone!” 

“I’ll be happy to, but soon it’ll be time for more collections.” She said and took the plate out of the room, leaving Don alone once more. 

He went back to sulking against the wall.   
……………

Soon, two men came and took Don back to the other room and tied him down again. He fought them every step of the way. He didn’t want to do this again. 

But once he was tied down again, they didn’t mess around. This time, they also tied his legs down, but just enough to where he couldn’t kick at them. He still needed to be able to move his legs to do what they wanted him to do. 

Once again, Don refused to cooperate and they drugged him again, and in the end, they got what they wanted: more seed. 

He was exhausted, but they made him do it again this time. 

“No! I can’t!” He cried out. 

“Oh, yes you can. You turtles have such an amount of energy when it comes to your sexual nature.” A man said. 

Don barely had a chance to catch his breath as he was drugged again. And more seed was collected. 

After that, he was more than exhausted and on the verge of going unconscious. 

“Take him back to the bedroom.” Beatrice ordered. Then she looked at Don in the eye. “Rest well, Donatello. More tomorrow.” 

Once he was off the table, he gave her an angry glare on the way out. 

She knew he hated being here, but she was going to make this experiment succeed. At the moment, she was looking at Don’s first batch of sperm under the microscope and could see the little tadpole like cells moving around really well. 

He was going to be making some good babies very soon.   
…………..

When Don was brought back into the cell, his wrists were put back in the shackles again, and once the men were gone, he couldn’t help but cry again until he passed out.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next few days, Beatrice wanted several collections from Don. She wanted to make sure she had enough to go around and keep some stored. 

The more these humans did this to him, the more he grew to hate them, especially Beatrice. She was the boss after all. This was ruining him. 

Beatrice was usually at every single collection, but there was one time in the week when she wasn’t there. Don was glad for that, but when the man in charge was there, he had a different agenda for the turtle. 

As Don laid tied down on the table, the man said, “I’m not going to be so lenient on you, Turtle. This time, there is going to be no assistance. You are going to give me what my boss wants, but without the drugs this time.” 

Donny had a bad feeling about this, but he was slightly grateful he wasn’t going to be drugged this time. 

“Now, let yourself out. We can do this the easy way with cooperation, or a harder way.” He said. 

“You’ve got enough from me! I’m not doing it anymore!” Don said with the most courage he could sum up.

“Oh, but you are, or else!” 

“I’m worn out! I can’t!” 

“She just wants a few more and you’ll be done. She left me in charge of it today. And I’m not taking no for an answer!” 

“And I said I can’t!” Don snapped angrily. 

“That’s it!” 

Don’s eyes widened as the big man came at him, and he cringed in fear. With his arms and legs tied down, he could do nothing to protect himself. He cried out in fear as one of the man’s big hands closed around his throat. 

“I’m not kidding around here, Turtle!” 

“She wants me unharmed!” Don said with panic in his voice. 

“Then give me what she wants and I won’t have to do this.” He demanded. “One way or another, you’re going to give it.” 

Don saw the hatred in the man’s eyes glaring down at him, and he could easily feel the pressure on his throat. He knew he didn’t have a choice. 

Donatello was so scared that he kept his tail clamped, but with knowing this man was fully capable of killing him, and he wasn’t going to let go until he complied. He let his tail loose and with great hesitation, Don let himself out. 

“It’s out.” Don said. 

The man looked down and said, “Indeed it is. Now just to get it to a good erection.” He let go of Don’s neck. 

Don let out a huge breath of relief when the man had let go. 

“Now, Turtle. Think of sexual thoughts. You better be getting it erect within the next 7 minutes.” 

With as traumatized as these humans had made him, it was hard to think of anything sexual. And this man wasn’t taking no for an answer. He knew there was no choice. 

Don tried to take deep breaths and he closed his eyes. He just wanted to think of his family instead. How much he loved them. But given what was at stake, he began to think of sexual things. 

The man had wanted to see how this turtle was capable of getting himself aroused without the use of drugs. He didn’t care if the turtle closed his eyes as long as he was complying with the order. 

Given his thoughts, Don began to feel the blood flowing down to his groin area. He began to get a semi-erection. 

By the time the seven minutes were up, the man saw that Don was only halfway there and he stepped in to finish it. 

“Agh!” Don cried out as the man grabbed him. 

The man only began to pump him, he didn’t grab him painfully. 

With great frustration, the pumping did begin to give Don a little bit of pleasure. He was worked into a full erection. 

“Good boy. Now to the real work.” The man said as he now let go and one of the other assistants put the AV on Don’s member. 

Don tried to keep up the sexual thoughts as he did what they wanted him to do. His churrs were once more filling the room. 

Slow thrusts at first, then faster ones till finally Don gave in and filled the AV once again with his seed. 

When he was done, Don’s body went limp with exhaustion. He panted heavily, sweat covering his body. He managed to say weakly, “Please… no more… I can’t…” 

The man looked down at him after he was done seeing how much seed was in the AV. “You’ve done well. We’ll give you the break you need.” He said. 

The men left the room. They didn’t even think to take Don back to his room right now. Don just thought they were going to let him catch his breath first, which he wanted more than anything. 

He was left there and he eventually passed out from exhaustion.   
…………..

When Beatrice returned from her errands, she was willing to give Don a good meal for a reward if he had done well with her man in charge. She went to the cell deemed as Don’s room and when she went in, she found he wasn’t in there. 

“Where is he?!” She demanded angrily. 

“Oh, we were letting him relax before taking him back here. He’s back in the collection room.” Her lead man said. 

Beatrice wanted to make sure Donatello was alright. She went to the room and found Don passed out on the table, still tied down. He looked so pale, and she noticed something else: marks on his neck. 

“What did you do to him?!” She demanded angrily once again. 

“I got him to cooperate without using the drugs on him.” He explained. 

“By trying to strangle him?! You know I need him in good condition for this to work! I’d prefer the drugs versus trying to kill him!” 

“I wasn’t trying to kill him! It was just a way I knew would get him to cooperate without drugging him. He was threatening not to give us anymore.” 

“He said he was worn out too.” Another man spoke up. 

Beatrice took another look at him. “We’ve been making him do this for days now. And perhaps we do have enough sperm from him. He’s done with this part. Just take him back to his room.” She ordered. “And I want him handled with care.” 

“As you wish, Beatrice.” Her lead man said. 

She watched as her two men took the restraints off of Don and they carried him back to his room, where the bonds were placed on his wrists again, and he was laid on the bed and covered up with the blanket. 

Then he was left alone to rest.   
………….

Don’s family were running themselves around the city like crazy looking for him. They had searched the Foot headquarters and found nothing; they had cornered and threatened many ninjas and they said nothing. 

Karai had even cornered Leonardo and they had a dual. Leo was too furious to back down and he defeated her, but he had also gotten a good slash to his left arm. Splinter had sewn up the wound and it was bandaged, but as the leader, he deemed this was his fault and he wouldn’t stop searching. 

Raph and Mikey were often searching together. Mikey was missing Don just as much as Raph and he wasn’t up to making the usual jokes at Raph’s expense. He knew this was a time to be serious. 

Master Splinter tried finding Don’s spirit in the astral plane, but he knew that his smart son was not exactly much of a meditator like Leo was. But there was still something he was sensing coming from Don, in the sense that he was still alive. He assured the others that he was still alive and waiting for rescue. 

April and Leatherhead tried looking up anything online that might give them a lead to where Donny could possibly be. 

Casey would try to interrogate Purple Dragons and he came up with nothing. Sometimes Raph would try to help too, but it was no use. 

Whoever had taken Donatello had made sure he would be impossible to find.   
……………..

Don woke up, having slept away his exhaustion. The last thing he remembered was he had been left in the torture room. But now, he saw he was back in the cell on the bed with a blanket over him. 

At the moment, he didn’t feel too well. When he tried to sit up, a wave of dizziness went through his head. He was able to put a hand to his head. He lay back down with a painful sigh. 

How much longer am I going to be put through this torment?’ Don asked himself. ‘I want to go home!’

Don started crying again, which only made his headache worse. He curled in on himself, just trying to find his own comfort the best he could.   
…………

A while later, Beatrice came into the room to check on him. 

“Donatello. I know about what my man did, and I apologize for his actions.” 

Don was awake, but he just tried to ignore her. 

“I know you’re upset at the moment, and you do look worn out. You won’t be doing it again. You’ve given me enough.” 

Don was lying down. Her words made him roll over. 

She caught his sob. “I just want to go home.” He said. 

“I’m sorry this has hurt your feelings, but you are not going home. There’s much more I need from you. Now that you are done with this part of the portion, you can begin to get your strength back. In a while, you’ll be given a good meal, and I expect you to eat it. It will help get the strength back. And judging from your mask, you’ve been crying. You probably have a headache. Am I right?” 

Don nodded reluctantly. 

“I’m sorry my man did what he did to you. If I had seen you were so worn out, I would have let you off the hook that time. I know we’ve been making you do this for days, but I just want to make sure I have enough of your seed in storage for making the babies. It won’t be long now for that to begin. And I’ll get you some pain killers for the headache.” 

Don only glared at her. Sure, she had apologized for the man’s actions, but she was showing no concern for his feelings about wanting to go home. He hated her and the situation he was in. 

It was usually hard for him to hate women. The only other woman he truly hated was Karai. And the Foot clan had been in part of his capture, so he hated her even more now that she had been part of this arrangement. 

Beatrice left his cell. 

Don just laid there, upset. He was getting no relief anytime soon. 

But it wasn’t long before she was back again with some pills and a glass of water. “Here are some pain relievers.” She said. 

Don raised himself up and took the pills with the water. 

She took the glass back when he was done. “Your dinner will be ready in about another hour. I know you don’t feel well, but you need to try to eat something.” 

Don and his brothers normally wouldn’t eat when they were so upset about something, but Don knew that Beatrice and her men didn’t take no for an answer. But this time at least, he would be willing to comply. He wasn’t going to be wearing himself out. He didn’t feel entirely like eating, but he waited it out. 

Soon, his daily meal was brought before him and he ate most of it. But he felt his stomach couldn’t handle all of it. During his meal though, he couldn’t help but wonder what the next step was in what Beatrice had planned for him.   
…………..

Beatrice was in the process of getting some anonymous eggs ready with using Don’s sperm to fertilize them. She had to make sure the DNA processing would hold. Don was the first reptile she was doing this experiment on. It might end up going differently. 

The DNA process worked. Some died in the beginning, but the finished ones were living. 

Beatrice wanted to start this experiment out with one embryo and make sure that it took. If the first one lived to term, then more could possibly do the same. 

The embryo’s DNA was put into a tube, with adding in hormones and such for a makeshift womb to grow too. 

Beatrice wasn’t sure if Don’s belly would get big or it would remain flat during this test pregnancy. But it was going to be chanced.


	5. Chapter 5

Once everything was ready, a few days after Donny had had a chance to rest, he was brought back to the room he had called the 'torture room.'

Now that he had some strength back, Don tried to fight as they tied him down again. In case they were going to take more of his seed, he just didn't want anything to do with being tied down. But in the end, after having been hit in the back of the legs, it made it easier to get him onto the table.

Once tied down, he looked up and around in terrible fear. Beatrice was in here this time. He kept his tail clamped again and his thighs close together.

The woman could tell the turtle was dreading more of what they had been doing before, but this time was different.

"Don't worry, Donatello. Like I told you, that part is done. Now it's the second part of this experiment." She said. "Bring that ultrasound machine over here." Came the order.

Don's breathing picked up. He was sure he knew what they were going to do now.

Once the machine was on, some gel was applied on Don's lower plastron. Don flinched as the gel was real cold. His belt had been removed for this part. Up until now, they had let him wear it. They were examining him from the right side.

The man who seemed to be a doctor was examining Don's abdominal cavity very carefully.

Don's breathing had somewhat stiffened, he was so scared. He was breathing real slow. A deep chill had penetrated his stomach as well.

"There's a good spot. Here, give me the syringe." The doctor said.

Don raised his head to see what he was talking about, but the computer screen was turned away from him. But he did look at where the probe was. It was nearly right in the middle of his belly. Then he heard the footsteps and looked over.

The approaching assistant carried the syringe. Don's eyes widened at the size of that needle. It had a good six inches to it!

"No! Don't do it, please!" Don pleaded. He began to squirm, trying to interrupt their scheming.

"Hold still, Turtle!"

"NO! I won't let you do this!"

"Hold him down!" The doctor ordered.

Don's limbs were already restrained, but two other men came over and put some pressure on Don's middle body. Don still tried to squirm however.

"Donatello, please stop moving. This needs to take place." Beatrice tried to be nice.

"I never agreed to this! Let me go! No! I won't let this happen!" Don argued back at her.

"Do what you have to do." She then said. "Just don't harm him."

"With pleasure." The lead man from the other day said. He came forward to the scared turtle and did what he did before.

Don froze when the man placed a big, thick hand over his neck again. It got an instant reaction to not move.

"Do it while I have him still."

Don had his teeth bared in fear and was trying desperately to control his breathing.

The doctor found the spot again on the screen, and he now had the needle and syringe in his hand. He aimed the needle just right and he put it into the flesh in Don's lower right side between the shell and plastron.

Don gasped and winced when he felt the needle pierce his soft, tender flesh down there. He felt it making its way deeper into his body. When it stopped, he could feel a pain inside him.

The doctor began to push on the syringe, delivering the contents into Donatello's abdominal cavity. And the turtle was cooperating thanks to the man keeping him still despite how severe it seemed to be.

"Okay, you can let go of him." The doc said. He now gently began removing the needle from Don's side. When he had it out, he held his gloved finger to the small wound to stem bleeding.

Don felt relieved when the big man finally let go of his neck, and the needle was at last out of his side. But now, he had some contents inside him that he had never wanted in there in the first place.

The doc now let go of Don's side, sure there wouldn't be any bleeding.

"Now we have a possible baby turtle on the way!" Beatrice declared proudly.

Don glared at her angrily. He knew this wasn't a good situation. He had to get out of there.

He was taken back to his room to reflect on what had happened.

"Tomorrow Donatello, the other tests will begin, ones of what we talked about. What else you are capable of doing." Beatrice said to him before leaving him alone for the night.

As Don sat on his bed, he gave off a regretful look down at his stomach. He felt his right side, and it was severely sore from the needle. But he gave his belly a little rub.

"I don't know if you're even alive, but I'm sorry you have to be a part of this." He said.

…..

Don's family had been searching for him for over a week and were not going to give up just yet. They knew that Donny would try to escape and get back to them as quickly as he could, but he might need help too. Who knows what the horrible kidnappers were doing to him.

They would keep on searching.

…

The next day, Don was taken from his room and he dreaded going back to the torture room. But this time, he wasn't taken there. He was taken to a room that was more of a dojo.

He was turned loose and they said, "Today, we want to test your fighting skills before the embryo really starts growing."

If Don was going to show them his fighting skills, he would show them everything he had. He had to get out. This could be his best chance.

"And you are going to be tested against a karate master."

Karate was nearly comparable to Ninjistu.

Beatrice was talking to the master now. "Don't hit him at all. I want to see how good his fighting skills are. And especially because there was a special experiment done on him and he has to be kept in good shape or it might not succeed."

"I can do that, Ms. Beatrice." This fighter said.

…

Don tried to find a way out of the dojo while he was waiting, but couldn't get out. The doors had been kept locked as soon as the men left. He knew he was a prisoner here, not a guest.

Then, on the other side of the dojo, the doors unlocked and in stepped a new human, one he hadn't seen before. He was wearing a white fighting outfit and a black belt. This must be the karate master.

Don turned to face him. He saw no weapons on him and there were no weapons in this dojo, so this was obviously going to be hand to hand fighting.

"Just stay away from me!" Don said. He got into a battle stance anyway.

"They just want to see what you can do. Come on, Turtle. Give me your best fight you've ever given."

Don was so scared and angry that he was more than willing to fight. He let loose all the frustration he was feeling onto this guy. The man defended himself and dodged, but he didn't strike back. If he did, it was only small defensive hits to only test Don's hitting, punching, and kicking skills.

The man stood up too and took Don's blows all too well. He didn't rough him up or anything. It was all Don doing this. When it was done, Don just stood in the middle of the room, panting and sweating. He had worn himself out.

"If you're done testing me, get out!" Don snapped at him angrily.

"Don't worry, Turtle. I intend to. But you definitely are a good fighter. Give yourself that credit." The man said and left the room.

Don was glad to be alone again. But it didn't take long for the other two men to come in and try to take him from the room. "Stay away from me!"

"Come on now, Turtle. It's time to leave the dojo and go back to your room." One of them said.

Now that he was loose, and the man who had nearly tried to choke him was one of these men and he was going to get some payback for that. Don unleashed his fighting skills some more.

He knocked the other one down onto his side, but the man who had controlled him with the throat hold, Don kicked and punched this man for all he had, and then he even kicked him in the knee real hard, dislocating the leg.

The man cried out and he fell to the floor, holding his leg. But Don wasn't done with him. He began beating on him some more until he was unconscious.

The other man managed to get out while Don was distracted with the other man. He called for help. He was taken to the infirmary.

When Beatrice saw him, he told her, "You have one very dangerous turtle there. He should be destroyed!"

"No! I'm not going to destroy him! He's just scared and confused. He's nearly like a human with these emotions. But I will deem to punish him as I see fit." She said.

She went to the dojo and saw her man on the floor. She had some other men with her now, but they were to stay behind until the time was right to grab him. She wanted to try the none threatening approach first.

Don was done with the man now, and he was in one of the far corners, huddled against the wall. His hands were a little bloody from beating up the man.

Beatrice hoped that Donatello hadn't turned killer, then she knew her men would want to kill him for sure.

"Donatello." She said gently.

The turtle looked over at her with the biggest scared eyes.

"What have you done, Donatello?" She demanded gently.

"I want to be left alone. Don't come near me." He warned her. "I want to go home!"

"I'll leave you alone for a while, but you aren't staying in here permanently." She said and she called her men over to take the beaten up man out of the room.

He was also taken to the infirmary and examined. He was alive, but he had many cuts, bruises, and a broken leg. Don sure had taken his revenge.

"That turtle nearly killed him! You sure you don't want him done away with?"

"No, I don't want him harmed. There's no other creature like him in this world. He's staying no matter what. I can always hire more men to work for me." Beatrice said.

The other men couldn't believe this. That turtle was a threat and needed to be punished for his mistake.

….

Don was so scared that he wouldn't leave the corner.

Beatrice tried to get him out of the corner with gentle talking when she came in later on. "Come on now, Donatello. Let's get you out of this room and back into your room. You can't stay in here forever. And I'm sure you will want to work with mechanical stuff, right? You are real good at that. Come on. Plus you also need to eat soon too."

"Stay away from me!" He kept on warning her to stay away.

"Donatello, if you don't come out of the corner voluntarily, you will be taken by force. What's it going to be?" She said. She always wanted to try to give him a choice before forcing him. At least when it came to something like this.

Don didn't answer and kept on huddling in the corner. He was virtually pulled up into a ball to protect himself.

"Fine! Men!"

Three men came into the dojo. Don looked fearfully up at them. One of them had a gun in his hand.

'If this is it for me, I love you guys.' Don thought to himself, thinking of his family. He eyed the gun.

The man holding it brought it up. "Get up Turtle, or so help me, I'll shoot."

Don didn't move. He tucked his face into his arms.

There was a shot and a dart pierced Don's upper right arm. He cried out and looked. He saw it was a dart and not a bullet.

After having done what he did earlier, the men were taking no chances.

The tranquilizer began to have its effect. Don got drowsy enough that the other two men went over, grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet and out of the dojo.

Once back in his cell, his wrists were cuffed again, though this time, his hands were looked at. They had some wounds on them. Beatrice saw to it that the wounds were cleaned and bandaged. Then he was left alone.

…..

A little while later, Don awoke and there was a glass of water sitting close by. He was thirsty.

Don also noticed his hands were bandaged. He knew he had made injuries on them when he had beaten up that evil man. After what that man had tried to do to him, he didn't regret beating up that man.

He got up from his bed and got the glass of water. He hoped this water wouldn't contain a punishment such as poisoning, but he was so thirsty that he couldn't stop himself from drinking it.

That night, Don wasn't given any food, not that he wanted anything anyway.

He was fed the next day, but he wasn't allowed out of his room for anything.

...

The man had awoken to find out about his injuries and he so wanted to get that turtle back for what he had done. But with this broken leg, it would have to wait.


	6. Chapter 6

Donny had been confined to his room for a week. He had been bored out of his mind, but he had only tried to think of his family. He wished they would find him already. But of course, he also recounted that other dimension he had been sent to. Had he been captured by this woman and her company and she had kept him for 30 years? 

Don really didn’t want to be there that long at all. He could barely tolerate being there as it was, wherever there was. The poor turtle was tired of feeling that way: miserable. He missed his family terribly. 

Over the long week, Beatrice had treated his hands accordingly and they were now just covered in scabs without the bandages. 

Another thing he had to worry about was the chance that he actually carrying a baby now. Had the experiment worked? He couldn’t help but run his hands over his belly. 

After the long week was up, Don was finally allowed out of his room again, but this time, he was taken to a different part of the building. He was taken to a vehicle workshop. 

“Let’s see what you’ve got to fix all these cars by the end of the week. All the supplies that you will need are over there. We just want to see what you can do to fix them.” One of the two men said who had been escorting him. 

There were 5 different vehicles that needed fixing. 

Don was watched during the day in the shop while he was working, but he also kept on looking for a way out so he could get out of there. 

Don had worked on his family’s vehicles enough to know where all the broken parts were and he found each part and replaced the old one with the new one. All the vehicles were fixed at the end of the week. 

Beatrice and her men were impressed with Don’s work. This was one field where Don was usually his happiest. He had calmed down a little bit while working, but he still would much rather be at home working on his family’s or his own projects. He knew he would have much catching up to do with them once he got home. 

When he was done working in the shop, Don was put to work in the lab. Some physics kind of stuff, decoding certain codes and helping with specimens. 

He did show some curiosity about the projects, but was still wary. 

One day while working in the lab, the man that Don had hurt came into the lab and saw the turtle working. 

“Well, if it isn’t the turtle that ruined my life!” He yelled at Don, nearly scaring him out of his shell. 

Don looked at the man in a horrified way. “You nearly tried to choke me just to get me to cooperate!” 

“And I’d do it again if I had to, but next time, it’ll be for real! You’ll pay for what you did to me!” The man threatened him. 

Don knew now more than ever that he wasn’t safe there. Some night, this guy could come into his room and try to kill him! 

Luckily, Beatrice came into the lab and told him to get out. Don was grateful for that, but he didn’t miss the man’s hateful scowl at him on the way out.   
…………

Beatrice was impressed by what this turtle could do now that he was more willing to cooperate. He was definitely worth breeding too. She was waiting for certain signs before she would have him checked.   
…………

The turtle family and their friends were miserable at having to stop looking for Donatello. They knew he was still out there, but it was getting close to a month and they had found no signs at all from him even being in the city. 

Splinter was sure he was still alive, but it seemed so far away. 

Raphael was the most determined to keep looking however. None of them wanted to give up, but mainly, all they could hope for was that wherever Don was that he would get away and come back to them. But they would still keep searching for leads whenever possible.   
…………..

It had been over a month since his capture, and these days, Donny wasn’t feeling too good. 

He was sick to his stomach a lot, had headaches, a lot of cramps, and just wanted to rest instead of work. He couldn’t keep much food down either. 

Once the symptoms were strongest, Beatrice had Don taken back to the exam room and an ultrasound done on him. And there on the screen, was a little embryo! 

The experiment was a success! 

Now Don knew there was trouble. If that man ever got his hands on him, he would surely want to kill his baby too. Don knew he needed to escape now more than ever. 

One day, he got up the nerve to try to ask her where it was she had brought him. 

“Beatrice, where have you brought me exactly and why can’t my family find me?” 

She knew he would ask her eventually. 

“Ohio.” 

Don’s eyes widened. He was far away from them! But it didn’t matter to him. He would find a way to get out of there. He just had to bide his time carefully and learn his way around. He was mostly kept in the confines of his room, the car shop, or the lab. And sometimes, the exam room. 

Don knew that man had to be watching his every move. As his injuries were healing, he had to be summoning up a plan to get his revenge on him.   
……………

The man was middle aged. It took his leg awhile to heal, but once he got the all clear from his doctor, the man wanted revenge on that pregnant reptile so bad.   
…………..

Over the last couple of months, Don had to deal with morning sickness quite a bit and was tired of it. He was still working on what Beatrice wanted him to despite any complications the unborn baby was giving him. And by now, he had also seen how he was going to get out of there. He just had to wait for the right moment. 

Don was around his tenth week now. His illness symptoms still came and went, but didn’t seem as bad. 

He wondered if his family was still looking for him. He was sure they were. They wouldn’t give up on him. 

Don had asked how long this experimental pregnancy was going to go on. 

“I have no idea, Donatello, but given there is no egg forming, you could still be carrying it for a while. But once this one is born, we’ll have an idea of how long you’ll be carrying more.” 

Donny dreaded the idea of carrying any more babies after this one. This pregnancy was already scary enough. And he didn’t want this child falling into evil hands.   
…………..

The man had bided his own time long enough to get revenge on that turtle. He knew Beatrice wanted to have him around, but as long as he had anything to do with it, this turtle wouldn’t be around much longer, and the turtle’s child would never live to see the light of day!


	7. Chapter 7

Don would never like living here, but he had somewhat settled in well enough now that they weren’t forcing him to such life ruining acts. At least now, they had him doing more of the things he loved doing, but he was still a prisoner. He was watched constantly to make sure he wouldn’t do anything. 

Donny knew he would have to hurt the humans again though if he had to in order to escape this fancy prison. 

Beatrice had Don on a schedule. He worked during the day. He was fed in the mornings and at night. She knew he couldn’t eat much with the morning sickness affecting him, but once that wore off, she would feed him a lot more.   
…………….

Beatrice’s lead man now had his job back of being in charge of the other workers, except watching Don. Beatrice knew he was holding a grudge against the turtle. So she just made him do other sorts of work throughout the place. 

The man had a plan to get rid of the turtle tonight! He had everything ready and knew the turtle’s work and sleep schedule.   
……………

Don was trying to get a good night’s sleep tonight when all of a sudden, his door was unlocked and in walked the vengeful man. 

He didn’t bother turning on the light. He just used the light from the outside hallway shining in. He had something in his hand. He didn’t want the turtle to see him. 

Don had heard his door unlock, but he was so tired and his back was facing the door. Then, all of a sudden, he felt something cover his mouth and nose. 

It instantly had Don going into a panic attack and he flailed his arms and legs. He tried to fend off whoever was doing this to him, but he had inhaled too much of the sleeping drug already and he couldn’t finish protecting himself. 

Don wasn’t entirely out, and though it was dark in his room, his vision was blurry. Then he felt an injection in his arm. He winced. 

Then he felt the shackles on his wrists were taken off and he was picked up and taken out of the room. He groaned at being picked up. His stomach was on the person’s shoulder. 

“The… baby…” Don moaned. 

The man knew what he meant. But he had drugged and injected an agent into the pregnant turtle so he couldn’t move, at least for awhile. Don was helpless on his shoulder. 

Everyone else in the building was asleep at the moment, and the security system was shut down so even Beatrice couldn’t be alerted until it was too late. 

The man carried Don to the garage and put the turtle in the back seat of the car. He tied his hands and legs up so he couldn’t go anywhere. 

“We’re going for a little ride, Turtle. Enjoy what’s left of your pathetic life!” Then he closed the car door. Don winced at the loud slam of the door. 

Don may have been drugged, but he still understood what the man had said. It was obvious he was being taken away to be killed. He had to escape!   
…………….

The man was finally more than overjoyed he had pulled this off. He was going to get rid of this turtle and his child! He wasn’t going to let his boss have this freak produce more freaks like himself. And for what he had done, he wanted revenge on this turtle. 

He drove Donatello to a far off place in the countryside to where no one would ever find the body. 

The drugs were wearing off of Don’s mind after having been driven for awhile. He could move again. He saw his hands and legs were bound. He had no idea where he was being taken, but he had a feeling he wasn’t going to like it. He had to get free if he was going to save his life. 

Don very carefully put his hands down to his legs without trying to put pressure on his belly. He tried to untie his ankles. He wished he had a knife or a shuriken. But he found the knot and began working at it. He was glad that his hands had only been tied in front of him. 

It took a little bit of figuring out the kinks to the knot in the dark, but Don eventually got it and he untied his ankles. That was when the car finally came to a stop. 

Don knew there was going to be trouble, but until the right moment, he laid back down and pretended to be helpless again. 

The man had a gun in the front seat, but he was going to use that last. He wanted some revenge on this turtle for so long. He was going to make sure he was properly restrained first. 

The man opened up the back seat of the car to get Don out of it. “Time’s almost up, Turtle. Now get out of the car!” He demanded. 

He took Don’s hands and pulled him out of the car. The man didn’t even take the time to recognize that Don’s feet were now free. 

Don winced as his wrists were pulled on. The ropes were kind of tight. 

“What are you going to do?” Don asked nervously. 

“Get my revenge of course.” The man answered. “You nearly cost me my life that day! Now, I intend to return the favor for real this time! And no one even knew I had this planned. Not even Beatrice is stopping me.” 

The man led Don to a batch of trees. He had another set of rope in his hands. 

Don saw the rope. Daylight was just beginning to come on. He hoped he wasn’t going to use that rope the way he thought he was. If he could find a good sized stick, he could whip this man’s butt. 

But Don wasn’t going to let this human fulfill his evil plan. He had to make his move now. He would figure out where he was later. Right now, he just had to get away before this man killed him. 

While the man’s back was to him, leading him to a tree, Don ran forward and let loose a battle cry as one of his legs came in contact with the man’s back. 

The man cried out as he fell to the ground. 

Don saw his chance and now that he wasn’t holding the rope anymore, he made a beeline for the forest. 

“Don’t think you are getting away that easily, Turtle!” The man said as he got up off the ground, seeing the turtle run off. 

He ran back to the car and got the gun. It was loaded already. He also grabbed up the rope off the ground and he would still get revenge on the turtle. 

Don had heard the man, but continued to run. He had to get these ropes off his hands too. But for now, he just had to concentrate on getting deep into the forest to escape this madman’s plans. He also had a baby inside him to think about. 

Don’s belly was still flat, but Don could feel that it could start to swell soon. His belt already had be kept loosened. 

Before too long, Don felt he needed to pull up and rest to catch his breath. Since that day, Don hadn’t been allowed to be back in that dojo. He had still done exercises in his room, what he could manage, but he was a little rusty and maybe out of shape too. 

It was a little cold out here, but right now, Don didn’t even feel it. His pregnancy hormones were keeping him warm, but he couldn’t stay still for long. Not with this man on his tail who wanted to kill him. 

He was resting against a rock and tree. He was now slicing the rope on the rock. All of a sudden, there was a blast on the tree. 

Don screamed as the blast made him go down. His hands now slipped free from the ropes. 

Don realized what the blast was. He rubbed his head, and he turned to get up, but there was the man right above him. He looked up at him with absolute fear in his eyes. 

“Now I can finally get my revenge!” The man said. He had his gun directly in Don’s face. 

Don’s heart was hammering heavily in his chest. The gun could take his life any second. 

Then the man moved the gun away from his face. “Let’s make this a little more interesting.” He said as he now pointed the gun towards Don’s belly. “Get up!” 

Don got up from the ground. He knew to show total surrender, he raised his hands. “I know you’re mad at me, but please, don’t harm the baby.” Don tried to negotiate. 

“You and that demon spawn are going to die shortly! I won’t have freaks like you being made! I knew Beatrice was making a mistake when she wanted to have you bred at all!” 

Those words cut Don to the quick. He couldn’t help the tears that rose to his eyes. 

“And this is for what you did to me!” The man said angrily and kicked Don in the left shin. 

Don cried out and went down. He looked up at the human holding his life in the balance. Then he got a good kick in the ribs. 

“Oh!” Don cried out. 

The turtle clutched his ribs, but he couldn’t hold still for long. He couldn’t let him aim for his belly next. He began backing up on the ground. 

Soon, Don was backed into a tree. “Don’t do this, please.” He pleaded. He couldn’t help the tears that were falling now. 

“I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to give you a good wound and let you bleed to death! You deserve to suffer for as long as possible!” 

The man took aim at a part of Don’s middle body, and knew he was probably taking aim at his belly, where the baby was. Don knew he had to act fast. 

He saw the trigger was about to be pulled and Don got up as quickly as he could. The shot hit the tree. 

Don tried running again. He just had to get away. His leg and ribs were bruised, but he wasn’t about to just let himself be shot if he could still help it. Finding a good water source to jump into would really help him right now, or a sewer. 

He couldn’t help the limp as he ran, and a pain was beginning to spring up in his stomach as he ran. Don clutched his stomach. “Please don’t come now!” Don tried to think. He had known this pregnancy was going to be nothing but trouble even before it had started. 

The man was still chasing him. Don could hear him closing in for the kill. 

Soon, Don could hear some loud water roaring nearby. This was his best chance to escape! If he could get to that water. 

The pain increased that he was just barely able to make it to the edge of a river ledge. Don was desperately trying to catch his breath. 

“You’re not going anywhere! Now I have you, Turtle. Any last words?” The man had caught up with him and had the gun aimed on him again. 

Don took another look at the water and knew what he had to do. He instantly took the leap off the ledge. It wasn’t too far to the water. But this was his only chance to get away. 

“What?!” The man ran forward and saw the large turtle land in the water. “Damn it! I’ll track you down, Turtle!” He yelled. “That’s a promise!” 

Don landed in the chilly water and began to swim downstream. He could hold his breath for a little while anyway. He just had to get away from that madman. He had his own life and his baby’s life to think about.   
He just hoped that human wasn’t following him downstream. But the woods had looked too treacherous for him to follow him that way. 

Soon, Don had to come up for air. He got to the surface and looked up at the ledge and didn’t see the man anywhere. He could swim a little further, but he soon would have to get out of the water. This water was chilly, and he knew he would have to make a fire to get warm when on land. He had been camping before. 

His leg and stomach still ached, but had dulled now. But the ache in his belly was what worried him more. Don might have been a genius in many things, but pregnancy, he was not. While he was out here, he would have to find a way to take care of himself and this baby. He just hoped that the baby would survive this journey. Stress wasn’t good for him right now. And he had just escaped the biggest threat thus far since the pregnancy began. And a possible labor was not good at all. 

Don knew that being male was the disadvantage of having this baby. He needed help in order to have it safely. He knew it wasn’t developed completely and still needed time inside him. If he had nine months like a human, he might be able to make it home by then. This was going to be a long journey. He knew he was in Ohio to begin with. He was only a few states away, not that far. At least he hoped he hadn’t been lied to. 

The journey had already begun in Don’s mind since the man brought him out here in the woods and his escape. 

He swam a bit further upstream to where he could find a decent place to get out and make it up the bank. He soon found a good spot and the water wasn’t too strong to keep on pulling him back in. The water had been some good exercise for him, but he had been more concerned with just getting away. 

Once he was out of the water, Don shivered a little when some chilly air hit him. He couldn’t afford to get sick. He was out in the middle of nowhere and he had no food or blankets. 

He went about gathering some wood. It was a risk lighting a fire, but he had to get warm. 

He gathered up a lot of wood from fallen tree limbs, and got some rocks and snapped them away from each other and he got a fire going. Don looked up in the sky to make sure it wasn’t going to rain anytime soon, and it was mostly sunny with a few white clouds in the sky, but no rain clouds. That was good. 

Don got the fire going pretty good, and he huddled beside it trying to get warm. 

He wished he knew more about the land of Ohio, but he didn’t. Right now, he decided he would just follow this river. At the moment, aside from a good water source, it was also his main chance at possible food. He was going to need it.   
……………

Back at the headquarters, Beatrice was beyond shocked that Donatello had gotten out! Or someone had taken him out of here. 

The man had headed back here to see how his boss was taking things. 

“Where have you been?” She demanded. 

“Trying to get the turtle back. He managed to escape last night. He wasn’t easy to follow and he got away from me. But there’s only one place he’s going to head back to.” He said. 

“New York. But that’s impossible. He didn’t have anything on him last night to enable him to escape.”

“He could have hid it real well. I’ve always known he was planning on getting away.” 

“Whatever it takes, find him and get him back!” Beatrice ordered. 

“Yes, Ma’am.” The man and her other men said. 

But if her lead man found that turtle first, he would kill him. But the other men were to also help him look and search the woods. 

But unbeknown for them, the leader had driven Don far away from here, so they would all be looking in the wrong places. The turtle could die out there for all he cared. Him and his child.


	8. Chapter 8

Don got warm enough after drying off sitting by the fire he had created. Then he set about trying to make himself a new temporary Bo staff. He would need it sooner or later he was sure. He also set about making a knife out of a rock too. 

He knew he wasn’t much for cooking, but fish was his best hope for a good dinner. He liked fish. 

As soon as he was done getting warmed up and got his new Bo and knife ready, he put the fire out and began to follow the stream. He wanted to try to get his journey started and there was plenty of daytime left for the moment. He would try fishing later. 

Later that evening, after walking for hours, Don was ready for some rest. But he still needed to catch some dinner. His stomach was growling like crazy. He wondered if the baby could hear it. 

He went down into some shallow water and began waiting on some fish. He had seen some people do hand fishing before. He hoped there were some fish swimming in this stream. 

He waited patiently. He looked down into the water and saw some swimming, and standing still, he dove for one, but missed. 

Don missed a few other times, but he managed to get one before the sun went down. He started gutting and skinning it. He really hoped no wild animal would come and get it. He had also learned a bit from living in the dinosaur era too. Fish was what they had to depend on most to eat. 

Once all the gory stuff was dealt with, he put the fish on a stick. He also started another fire and began to cook his fish. 

When Don was sure it was done cooking, he hoped it would taste good. He started cutting it up with his knife and found it was pretty good. He had cooked it well.   
……………

Fish was what Don had to rely on for food a good many days afterward. He had to catch one both morning and evening, in hopes of getting enough to eat for both himself and his unborn child. 

He still had problems with bringing food back up. He wished it would end. Don felt that he didn’t have enough nourishment in his body to sustain them both. He needed the food he had been eating at the facility. But he wasn’t going back there. He could only hope he would chance upon maybe a town or something soon. 

Toast, bananas, apples, some soup, and crackers were mainly what Don could manage to keep down. He needed those foods. 

Don hated the idea of leaving his water source, but he needed to take a chance and try to find a town, city, or farm. He needed more food in his diet for the sake of this child. If it was just him alone, Don knew he could go for awhile without food, but it wasn’t the case this time. 

He took one last drink of the water and began to go deeper into the woods. He wished he had at least a canteen to carry water in. 

Before the sun went down that evening, after Don had been walking for miles, he came upon a farmhouse. It looked so comforting to want to just be in a nice warm house to be by a fire. But he knew it was hoping for too much. Then he saw the barn. He hoped there was straw in there. 

He didn’t see any animals around at the moment, or humans. He went into the barn, and indeed, there was some hay up in the hayloft. Don immediately went to climb the ladder. He really wanted a good warm place to sleep tonight. His feet were killing him. 

But he knew he needed to try to get some food too for the night. He laid his stuff down in the loft and went to the house to see if anyone was home. He didn’t see any cars outside, but when he looked in the windows of the house, it was obvious it wasn’t abandoned. 

Before sundown though, two cars pulled into the driveway and Don hid back in the barn, watching through the window up there. He would wait until nightfall. He hated stealing, but he didn’t trust new humans right now. 

Don watched to see the lights go out maybe around 10 or 11 that night. He was really hungry by then. But he still needed to wait a little while and bide his time to make sure the humans were going to be asleep. 

He waited awhile and soon, he made his move. He jumped down from the loft and made his way to the house. He found the door unlocked. 

He snuck into the kitchen and very quietly, his eyes could make out some fruits, bread, and pop tarts on the counter. 

He took the bread sack, and the fruits and stuffed them into the bread bag and left the house. He shut the door quietly so the humans wouldn’t catch on that he was there. He also managed to grab a bottle of water. 

Back at the barn, Don ate two apples, a banana, and two slices of bread. He needed to save the food. Then he went to bed. He covered his stuff, the food, and himself up with hay. The hay kept him warm enough for tonight. But tomorrow, Don knew he would have to move on. He couldn’t let them find him.   
……………

Don woke up early in the morning just as the sun came in through the window. He needed to get an early start before the humans found the food missing and came looking around. He didn’t want to wear out his welcome. But Don did wish he could stay here longer. 

He got up, collected his things and moved out. 

And indeed, the couple that lived there found food missing that morning and started fighting about it. Neither one said they did it. Then there had to be someone or something lurking outside. They went looking and didn’t find anything around at the moment, but they were sure to be watching tonight. 

Don had made sure to avoid making footprints.   
…………..

Don was good for a few days on food. And he only drank water in small sips. He would soon need more water and began searching out a water source. 

Most of the land that he walked on was smooth going. He really hoped he was heading east. 

At night, when he had to spend it under the stars, he would look for the North Star. He followed it every day and figured he was going east. 

When Don did happen to come to a smooth stream, he happily filled his water bottle back up again. He also went about fishing again. That night, he had a fishy dinner. 

It had been over a week since the man had brought him into the wilderness to try to kill him, and he was glad that he hadn’t been found again by any humans. 

The air was chilly outside, but Don stayed warm enough by keeping moving, or having fires going. He had only spent one night in a barn. But today, the clouds were gathering and it looked like it was getting ready to rain. 

Don looked up at the sky and didn’t like what he was seeing. He wanted to try to seek shelter before a possible storm hit. He tried looking for a cave somewhere, or even a farm. 

Right now, he was up on a small hill, and down the hill, he saw a new farmhouse, complete with a barn. Though this one had some livestock around it. Cows mainly. 

It was starting to rain now, and Don started to slowly make his way down the hill. He had to make his way through a lot of hung over tree limbs and such, but it was all flat ground. He even sat down at times to make sure he wasn’t going to trip and fall down the hill. It could really hurt him and the baby if that happened. 

Don managed to make it safely by the cattle and into the nice, dry barn. He was soaked by then. He was also getting chilled to the bone. When it rained, it made things colder. 

But also inside the barn, there were a couple of horses too. They spooked at the scent of the turtle, but Don just stayed clear of their stalls. But he did see a blanket and he wanted that. Seeing as how the chestnut horse wasn’t needing it at the moment, Don borrowed it and headed for the hayloft. 

He got up there and sat down, pulling the blanket around himself. He knew it reeked of horse scent, but right now, he just wanted to get warm and dry. 

The cattle also headed inside the barn too to get warm and dry when it started to pour outside. 

Don knew he would probably have to go hungry tonight. He would set out in the morning when it had stopped raining. He would catch a fish tomorrow. 

The rain pouring on the roof of the barn lulled Donatello into a good sleep and he slept till morning.


	9. Chapter 9

It was still raining in the morning too, unlucky for Don. He sighed miserably. He was ready to move on from here, but he didn’t want to go anywhere when it was still raining. Rain might normally not have bothered him, but with it being colder out now, he’d be more likely to get sick traveling in this cold rain. 

Then, there was a sound he didn’t want to be hearing; a barn door opening. Uh oh! 

Don crouched low and tried not to be seen or make a sound until whoever it was left the barn. He could hear the footsteps below and he could only hope they didn’t come up here. They must have either been in here to feed the animals or to get something. 

But then, before long, Don’s eyes widened when he heard steps on the ladder. He gasped silently. He brought his legs close to his body and covered himself up with the blanket. He didn’t have enough time to bury himself in the hay. And the person would hear him moving about. 

The teenage boy got up into the hayloft and he located the pitchfork over by the wall and he began scooping hay and dropping it down to the floor. He was about to head back down when another boy came into the barn. 

He was looking for the horse blanket to put on the horse. Then he said, “Hey Ryan! Is there any sign of Red’s blanket up there?” 

“Why would it be up here?” 

“It’s not down here.” 

“Alright, I’ll have a quick look.” The black haired boy said. 

Don gulped. If he found the blanket up here, he was toast! 

Ryan had a look around the hayloft and spotted the blanket in the far back. “There it is.” He said and went to fetch it. 

“But what’s it doing up there?” His brother asked. 

“I don’t know! I didn’t put it up here.” Ryan yelled back. 

As the boy was coming closer, Don could hear him. His breathing picked up. He didn’t want to come into contact with humans on this whole journey home. 

Then the blanket was yanked off of him. Don curled into a ball. 

Ryan screamed and fell backward. “What are you?!” 

“What’s wrong, Ryan?” 

“There was something up here under the blanket!” He yelled back. 

Don uncurled himself and tried to talk. “Don’t panic, please.” 

“And it talks!” 

“I don’t mean any harm.” Don said, and then Ryan’s older brother came up into the loft and he had grabbed the pitchfork in case the creature was dangerous. 

The older boy came over and saw what Ryan was talking about. This boy was a good two inches taller and had brown hair. 

“What is that thing?!” 

“I don’t know, Matt.” 

“Who are you and what are you?” Matt demanded. 

“And what are you doing here?” Ryan added, as he was now getting to his feet. 

“I come in peace. My name is Donatello. And I’m a turtle. I was only passing through. I was only borrowing the blanket to keep warm while sleeping here.” Don explained. He was still laying down and trying to appear as none threatening as possible. “Please, don’t hurt me. And don‘t tell your parents I‘m here.” 

“And why shouldn’t we tell our parents?” 

“I won’t hurt you, I just need a place to stay until the rain stops, then I’ll be on my way, I promise. Please, just put the pitchfork down.” 

Matt looked over and saw Don’s stuff on the hay. “And yet, you have weapons. Why should I put it down?” 

“I only have them there so I could sleep easier. I’ll need them when I move on.” Don said. 

“You haven’t tried to harm our animals have you?” Ryan asked. 

“No, I swear. I just borrowed your red horse’s blanket like I said, to keep warm.” 

“Where are you from, Turtle?” Matt asked. 

“New York. I was stolen from my home and I just got away days ago. I’m trying to get home again. Am I headed that way?” Don asked. 

“We are on the east side of Ohio, so I’d say, yes.” Matt said. 

Don sighed in relief. 

“But what were you stolen for?” Ryan asked. 

“Being the genius that I am. Or someone wanted to get me out of the way.” Don didn’t quite want to reveal his big secret just yet. 

With hearing this, and Don’s voice, it was sort of making the boys relax. The turtle did have a sincere way of explaining to them. 

“Alright, uh, Dona- You can stay here.” 

“Thanks. It’s Donatello. But if you want a shorter version, Don is just fine.” The turtle said. 

“Alright, Don. How long have you been here?” Matt asked. 

“Overnight. I was going to leave this morning, but I may need to stay until the rain stops.” Don said. 

“Have you had anything to eat for awhile?” Ryan asked. 

“Not since yesterday morning.” Don said, and then his stomach gave a strong, loud growl. 

Don felt embarrassed. He chuckled and rubbed his belly. 

“If you’ve been out there for days, what have you ate?” Ryan asked. 

“Fish mostly, from streams.” He didn’t want to reveal that he had stolen some food too. But maybe these boys could give him some food to last him awhile on his journey. 

“Well, we were just out here to feed the horses and cows. We’ll be heading in soon for breakfast. We’ll bring you something from the house.” Matt said. 

“That would be great.” Don said. 

“What do you like?” 

Thinking of what he could manage to keep down, he said, “Bread, fruit, crackers.” 

“Don’t you want anything else?” Ryan asked. 

“I wish I could, but let’s say I have a sensitive stomach.” Don said. 

“We’ll bring you what we can.” Matt said. “Come on, Ryan. We need to finish feeding the animals so we can go have our own food.” 

Matt put the fork down and he and his brother went back down the ladder. 

Don came to the edge. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” 

Don smiled. He was glad he had convinced these kids that he wasn’t dangerous. It had been awhile since he’d had a good meal. Though eggs, pancakes, and sausage almost sounded good too. 

Don went back to the back and waited.   
…………..

After awhile, the boys brought some food into the barn and called to Don. 

Don came down the ladder and he was happy to take the food they offered him. He was famished. He needed the nutrition. 

As he ate, the boys talked to him and got to know more about him. And he likewise. 

The boys convinced Don to stay an extra few days when they learned that he had been trained in the ninja arts. They wanted to learn some moves. 

Don agreed, as long as the boys knew when of a good time to leave the barn and he wouldn’t be seen. 

“We only have a dad and he goes to work on weekdays, and he goes to see his friends on weekends, so then you can leave the barn. When we come and get you.” Matt said. 

“I’ll be waiting.” Don replied. 

After they left to do their chores, Don did think he needed a few more days of rest anyway. His feet were covered in blisters from all the traveling. He had to have come over 20 miles by now. 

Soon, the boys came in to get him, and they headed out into the woods on foot. They had asked him if he wanted to ride horses, but given his condition, he wanted to stay away from horses. The risk of being kicked or falling off was too much. And the horses were wary of him too. 

Don showed Matt and Ryan some moves in the woods and they tried to do what he did. Though Don did try not to take it too far. He felt the little weight in his stomach. 

But when the two teens were pushing for more, Don had to finally say that was enough. 

“Come on, Don. We want to learn more.” Ryan said. 

“No. You’ve seen enough for now.” Don said. 

“You a chicken?” Matt mocked him. 

Don glared at him. 

“Come on, just one more then.” Ryan said. 

“Fine.” 

“One of them where you move and kick.” Matt demanded. 

“Ok, but this is the last one.” 

Don did a leaping spin kick in the air, yelling out a battle cry. When he landed, some pain sprang up in his belly. 

“Ooh!” Don moaned and clutched his stomach. 

“What’s wrong, Don?” Ryan asked. 

Don grimaced. “I think- that’s enough for now.” And he put his Bo on the ground and began walking back to their house. 

“That was weird.” Ryan said to his brother. 

“I know. There’s something he seems to be hiding.” 

“Let’s find out.” 

Don went back into the barn, climbed the ladder, and laid down, hoping the upset would pass. “I really need to get home soon.” He wished he could have gone in the house and laid on a bed or couch.

The two boys climbed up after him. 

Don looked up at them. “What?” 

“What happened to you out there?” Matt asked. 

“Yeah, one minute you were fine teaching us, and the next you act like you’re in pain. What’s up?” Ryan added. 

Don let out a cleansing breath and knew he needed to confess. “I have something to confess. I need to take it easy on certain things right now, as that pain that started up out there, it was because I’m- uh, how do I say it- carrying a child.” 

The boys were both shocked. 

Don laid there with a hand on his stomach. 

“But if you’re pregnant, you shouldn’t be walking all the way back to New York. That’s a long walk on foot.” Matt said. 

“I have to get back there before the baby’s ready to be born.” Don said. “I don’t have a choice. And I need to leave as soon as possible. And the walking doesn’t seem to stress the baby out. But thanks for letting me stay these few days. My feet did need a rest, but I doubt your father would let me stay if he found me here.” 

“We understand. When are you leaving?” 

“I should leave in the morning. Given this pain goes away.” Don said. 

“Ok. We’ll pack you some food tonight.” Ryan said. 

“Thank you.”   
……………

The boys did as they promised and packed plenty of food for Don’s journey and put it into an old backpack. In the morning, Don added his knife and water bottle to it and he was on his way again. Now it was much easier to travel with everything on his back. 

Matt and Ryan were sorry to see him go, but they knew he was right. Their father would never allow the turtle to stay there. But they were grateful to have made friends.


	10. Chapter 10

Don was glad to have had a few days extra rest and made some new friends. But he still needed to keep on moving. He was also more than glad to have some food to last him and the baby awhile. 

He wished the boys could have given more, like a car to drive home in. But they could have done only so much. They had given him one of their dad’s old coats that might help protect him from the elements a lot more too. 

Within a short time, Don walked past the border into Pennsylvania. He was just one state away from being home. 

If he had to walk on a highway, then he did it at night. Now that he had a coat on, he walked further more into the night now too. He would mainly stick to trying to hide in barns overnight, or camping near streams. But more than anything, Don just tried to avoid any more human contact. 

Given the time of year it was now, November, anything was possible in the back woods. On his journey home, he hadn’t run into any wild animals. 

For many miles across the state, Don didn’t run into any trouble or any other humans, but one day, when he was passing through some back woods, suddenly there was a SNAP! 

Don cried out so loud that it caused many birds to fly away and some deer to run.   
The turtle went down and he saw what happened. There was a trap on his right foot. 

This wasn’t good. It meant that a hunter could be nearby. And the last thing Don ever wanted to face was a human with a gun aimed on him again. He had to try to get this trap off his foot. 

He took his backpack off and he brought himself as close to his leg as he could get. He tried to pry open the trap with his hands, but it held strong. He then took his Bo off and tried to get it inside the trap to free his foot. 

He hoped he could get the trap off his foot and not have to wait around for a few days for a hunter to arrive. 

As it turned out, he managed to get his Bo into the trap and with one hand and the Bo bracing it, he managed to pull his foot free. Don cried out when he got it out. He hoped his foot wasn’t broken. But he knew he had to use it. 

It was wounded. He took his belt off and wrapped his foot with it. He would try just walking on his toes on that foot. 

He managed to pull himself to his feet, picked up his backpack, and moved on, using his Bo as a walking stick now. But his walking was now much slower than it was.   
……………

It was a beautiful day out. 

There was a photojournalist out photographing some wild animals. He was done now and heading back to his boat. He preferred living out in the boonies so he could have privacy and do his job.   
…………….

Donatello had been walking awhile. He was heading towards the stream, when finally, his injured foot gave out on him. He cried out as he went down.   
…………….

Benjamin the photojournalist thought he heard someone cry out, and he looked over to his left and there was a person lying on the ground. He went over to investigate. As he got closer, he saw this person had a green head and green legs. 

“What’s that?” As he got closer, he didn’t know if it was alive or dead. “You poor thing.” He touched Don’s shoulder and Don moaned in pain. 

“You’re alive?” 

Don opened his eyes as he heard a voice. “Oh no! A human found me again!’ He said to himself. 

“Can you get up?” Ben said. 

“I… think so.” Don said. 

“Here. Give me your arm.” Ben said. “What are you?”

Don gave the man his left arm and he pulled the wounded turtle to his feet. He tried to keep the weight off his injured foot. “I’m- a turtle.” 

The man noticed he was limping. “I can treat your injured foot. I was once a veterinarian.” 

Don looked at him suspiciously. 

“Come with me to my boat and I’ll treat you at my home. That’s where all my supplies are.” Ben said. 

Don didn’t really have a choice. Ben helped him down to the water’s edge and helped him into the boat.   
Don watched him get in and shove off shore. 

“So what’s your name, Turtle.” 

“Donatello.” Don replied. 

“I am Benjamin.” He was an older guy. 

Don kept his distance from the man though he could sense he wanted to help. He wasn’t in a condition to escape right now. 

Soon, after getting away from shore and crossing the lake, they came to a house on the shoreline. Ben got the boat settled and tied off, then he helped Don out of the boat. 

Don limped into the house where Ben had Don lift his foot onto a stool and he removed the belt. There was an infection setting in. The wounds needed to be cleaned immediately. Ben also took Don’s coat and backpack and put them safely on the floor. 

Don clenched his stomach as he let the man clean the wounds and splint and bandage his foot. 

“I don’t think your foot is broken too badly. And the wounds need to heal too. You need to stay off of it for a little while with plenty of fluids.” Ben said. 

“But I really need to get home! My family is terribly worried about me!” Don exclaimed. “I have been trying to get back to them for a couple of weeks now!” 

“I think you can wait a little longer. You need rest. And where do they live?” 

“New York. I was kidnapped and I’m just trying to get back to them.” 

“Donatello, there will be plenty of time to get you home to them, but for now, you really to rest. I can sense that you’ve been on a long journey. Your feet are all blistered and worn out.” Ben said. 

He was right. His feet were sore, even the non-injured foot. But he had been pushing himself to make good time. But it didn’t look like that was going to happen now. 

Don was helped to the guest room in the house, and for the first time in a long time, the pregnant turtle was more than happy to lay in a bed again. He was asleep the instant he was settled in bed. 

Ben put some pillows beneath Don’s injured foot and covered him up. It was clear this turtle was exhausted.   
…………….

Donny slept for most of the day. He did shift in his sleep and acted like he was in pain. Ben wished he could help him, but knew that he couldn’t. He would try talking to him when he woke up. 

When Don did wake up later that evening, he saw he was in an unfamiliar room. He had no idea how he had gotten here. He began to panic, then he felt the pain in his ankle. 

“It’s alright, Donatello. You’re safe.” Ben came in to soothe the panicked turtle. 

Don was breathing hard, trying to calm down. He just didn’t want to be back in the clutches of Beatrice. Then he remembered this kind man helping him with his injured foot. 

“I’m sorry, Ben. It was just a bad dream.” Don said. 

“Must have been a bad one.” 

“It was. After all this trauma, I just hope my baby’s ok.” Don said, looking down and placing a hand on his belly. 

“You’re pregnant?” 

Don looked up and realized his mistake for what he said. He sighed. “Yes. Please don’t turn us into a science lab. My baby and I don’t need that kind of life.” 

“I have respect for all life. I think they need to be free. Not in cages or to be science experiments. You have my word, Donatello.” Ben smiled at him. 

Don looked carefully into the man’s eyes. He saw sincerity. “Thank you.” 

“Are you hungry? I have some soup for you.” Ben said. 

Don waited a moment and did feel his belly growl. 

“Yes. The two of us are hungry.” Don smiled back. 

Ben gave him a big bowl of soup and Don was more than happy to oblige to eat it. This was his first time having soup in awhile. At least it was one of a few foods his stomach could keep down. 

Ben sat down close to the end of the bed watching the turtle eat the soup and he saw that he must have been hungry for the way that he ate. “Don’t eat too fast.” 

“Sorry. It’s just really good.” Don said. "And I had run out of food a couple of days ago." 

The man waited for Don to finish the soup before he asked more. 

“So, Donatello, what’s your story?” Ben asked. 

Don looked up at him in worry. “What about my story?” He gave Ben a glare. 

“I mean your life story. I’ve never seen anything like you before.” 

Ben did seem trustworthy enough. Don proceeded to tell most of his life story and about the family he so desperately missed. He also told him what happened when he was kidnapped without telling too many distinct details, but he did say that an experiment was what got him pregnant. 

“Even though I didn’t like the concept that her chief security officer tried to drag me off and kill me, it was the best thing he did, for it allowed me to finally escape. I’ve come such a long way already from Ohio and I intend to get back to the city soon. I miss my family so much.” Don said. 

“I understand. They are all you have.” 

“Yes.” 

“And now you have a little one on the way. The baby is a part of your future.” Ben said. 

“I’m really worried about what they are going to think about all this.” Don said, placing a hand on his stomach. “If I was still in her clutches, Beatrice would have had me impregnated many times. She said I was worth breeding about ten fold practically.” 

“It is worth saving the species, but when it’s voluntary, not forced, the way she forced this on you.” Ben said. “What did she want with you anyway? There had to be something behind it.” 

“My being a genius. She wanted it in more generations.” 

“Do you know how many you are carrying, if you don’t mind my asking?” 

“One, as far as I know. I had only one ultrasound while I was there.” Don said. “I don’t think I could handle carrying more than one. But I do know that it’s not being born from an egg, like all turtles usually are.” 

“And what are you a genius at?” 

“Many things. But mostly science, technology, math. I can build and fix many things. I’ve done it since I was little.” Don explained. 

Ben could understand then why this woman had thought about breeding this turtle like that. He had such a gentle soul, and he had a deep understanding of life and all the things that modern society brought these days. He knew how to do things for himself and his family that most other humans could only dream about doing. 

But Ben wasn’t like that woman. He would help Don in any way he could to get well and get back to his family as soon as possible. He promised he would take him home.   
……………

Don really wanted to get going back to his family as soon as possible, but Ben was against it until his foot healed some more. He wasn’t to be up except for the bathroom. 

Don hated being the patient. He was terrible at it. At least Ben didn’t have him tied down. It would take awhile for the foot to heal. 

By a week later, Don was allowed up with the help of crutches. And the blisters on his feet were healing too. 

He was allowed to do some light chores around Ben’s house, but he still needed to stay off his feet as much as possible, at least for another week or so. 

It had gotten much colder outside now. Don was glad that he was in a human home for the time being. It was kept nice and warm in here. 

But, despite the cold, Ben still went out into it in cold weather attire and still took photos of wild animals to submit to his publishing company. Some of the pictures were even turned into calendar pictures. 

Ben showed Don his photographing skills. The turtle was impressed. He took very good pictures of animals like deer, ducks, geese, and even some beautiful turtles. Of course, the turtle pictures were from earlier in warmer weather.   
……………

In New York, it had been well over 5 months since Don had been taken away. It was nearly time for Thanksgiving, but no one felt like celebrating the holiday this year. It just wasn’t the same without Donatello around. 

Leonardo and Raphael had been fighting for quite awhile now, deciding to stop looking for their brother. There had been no traces of him for a long time, and Leo was certain he might come back, or he wouldn’t come back at all. 

Raph was still refusing to give up on looking for him. He had scoured every inch of the city that he felt he had, but had never found him. He hated the idea most of all of giving up on Don. He would never give up on the hope of him coming back. 

Mikey had tried to keep his own spirits up and his two remaining brothers up, but they just yelled at him to back off before he got pummeled too. 

Master Splinter still tried to keep track of Don in the astral plane and still felt his presence was alive. But when it would show up was unknown. Whoever had him was making sure that he didn’t get away so easily. 

April, Casey, and even Leatherhead had tried their hands at trying to find him too and had all been unlucky as well.   
……………

Don was thankful for having Thanksgiving dinner with a good friend, but he wished he could be having it with his family as well. He hoped they were ok without him. 

“I know you miss your family, Don, but I am glad you are here with me. I don’t have any more family and I haven’t had a guest here in years. Its nice to have the company.” Ben said. 

“Thanks, Ben.” Don replied. “And I’m happy to oblige.”


	11. Chapter 11

It took a few good weeks for Don’s foot to heal. As it turned out, it was a bad break. Don still limped a little, but he did need his ankle to be in healed enough shape to even think about going down a ladder to those sewers. 

And in the month he stayed with Ben, Don’s stomach also got bigger, finally revealing the precious baby that it carried within. 

Don was in his 16th week now. He was more than happy to be this far along, as he was no longer getting sick when he ate his food and he felt a little more energetic. But he was growing more and more restless. He felt his foot was healed enough now that he should be going home. He wanted to go despite how cold it was and that snow had by now fallen. 

“Wish you could stay the winter.” Ben said. “This is usually the time of year turtles are sleeping.” 

“I know, but I’m not normal.” Don said. “And I have to get back to my family before I go into labor. I can’t have it naturally. I have friends at home that can help me have it. And my family would need to get used to the concept of adding a new family member.” 

“Don, I did promise to help you get home when your foot healed, and I intend to keep my word. We will go as soon as the roads are deemed safe to travel on. Okay?” 

“Agreed.”   
……………

Ben gave Don some warm clothing and some shoes to put his feet into. He also wanted to help him get home because it was still so far walking on foot, and because it just wasn’t a good time for walking long distances in the snow. And it was to help disguise him as well from the humans. 

Ben didn’t drive his car a whole lot except when he went to town once a week for supplies. And now that it had gotten so cold out, it wasn’t easy to get the car started. 

Don managed to get it started with his expertise. 

The car was warmed up before they took off. They were currently in northern Pennsylvania and it was going to be a long drive.   
…………..

Christmas was getting nearer all the time. No one felt like getting into the Christmas spirit this year. Sure, they had all bought or made presents for their family and friends, but it was going to be a sad holiday this year without Don to help them celebrate it. 

Their friends from out of dimensions would still be joining them. It would help a little bit, but still wouldn’t be the same. 

They had all gotten presents for Don too, in hopes that he would make it back, but it looked like that wouldn’t happen.   
………….

It took a couple of days to find the way to New York. The roads were slippery in some places and just making sure to find the right roads. And Ben was uncomfortable driving in the dark when he couldn’t see black ice. 

“Are you going to be fine on your own from here, Don? I just don’t like big cities. That’s why I chose to live where I do.” Ben said. 

Don smiled. “Yes. I’ll be fine. Thanks for all your help and getting me back to New York.” 

“You’re welcome, and Merry Christmas.” Ben said. 

“Merry Christmas.” Don said. “Have a safe journey home.” 

Ben was dropping Don off at just the beginning parts of the city. Like he had said, he didn’t like big cities. And to think his young friend lived in this scary, dangerous place. 

“And take good care of your new baby when he or she comes.” Ben said. 

“I will.” Don said. 

Don began walking towards the city and Ben turned his car around to begin his journey back home. There was a weather report coming in that another snow storm was coming in a few days and Ben wanted to be back home for it. 

Don was glad for the warmer clothing. He also had supplies and his Bo on him in case of trouble. His foot still hurt a little to walk on, but it was healed well enough. 

There wasn’t much traffic on this road as Don made his way into the city. Once he got into the middle of the city, he made sure to hide his face from the public. He knew he needed to get underground as soon as possible. He was so ready to find his old home and reunite with his family. He was still a ways from the part of the city where the lair would be. He wanted to find the nearest location to get underground first. 

…………

It was nightfall before Don was even getting close to a good spot to find a manhole. 

And also tonight, the turtles were out on patrol. They wouldn’t be going on patrol tomorrow, as their friends would be over at the lair tomorrow. 

Mikey and Raph had gone off together. Leo was on his own. He was certain he could take care of himself, and he and Raph wanted to avoid each other right now, as another fight was going on. 

Leo was on a rooftop, overlooking the city when he heard a sudden noise nearby. It sounded like it was down in the alley behind the building. He went over to check it out. 

Down in the alley below, he saw someone down on their knees. They had cried out as they had slipped on some ice. But it looked like they were trying to get down into the sewers too. 

Leo couldn’t let that happen. It could be a stalker for all he knew. 

He jumped down into the alley, but staying out of sight. “Who are you and why are you trying to get into the sewers?” He demanded. 

The person stiffened and pushed themselves to their feet. 

Leo was tense as the stranger faced him. Then he heard his name and that voice. 

“Leo?” 

“How-?” Leo started, then he saw the person lower his hood. 

“Don?” Leo stated flatly. 

“Leo!” Don cried out. 

“Don!” Leo cried out too, and he ran to embrace his brother, dropping his katana in the process. 

When they embraced each other, they couldn’t help but hug each other like they would never let go. It was so emotional for both of them that the tears also came and fell without notice at the moment. 

When they finally let go, Leo asked, “Donny, where were you all this time?” 

“I was taken to Ohio. I’ve been trying to get home for the past several weeks. I would have been home sooner, but I had a bad injury to my right foot and I was staying with someone in Pennsylvania until it healed. He helped drive me the rest of the way. I only just got back here today.” Don explained the quick short story. 

“That was nice of him. But what matters more is that you’re back. We have all been through hell while you were gone. We’ve missed you so much!” 

“I have missed you all so much too. And I’m glad to be back.” Don gave his oldest brother a smile. 

Leo went and picked up his swords off the ground, and together, they went below ground.   
…………..

The door to the lair opened. Don had followed Leo. He had been gone so long he missed those old sewers. Leo could see the limp that Don was talking about from the slightly still healing foot. 

“Master Splinter! You’ll never guess who I found!” Leo called. 

Splinter came out of his room. He saw Leonardo and another person in warm clothing. But then, he recognized the face. His eyes lit up. 

“Donatello! My son!” 

“Father!” Don cried out and ran over to embrace his father. 

Donny was so happy to be feeling his father’s furry body again. He had missed him so much. Leo joined them. 

“Where did you find him, Leonardo?” Splinter asked when they pulled apart. 

“Not too far from here. He had escaped and come back here.” Leo said. “He said he had been in Ohio.” 

“Are you alright, Donatello?” Splinter asked. 

“I am now. But there’s also a story that I have to tell you all. And I’ll tell it when Raph and Mikey are here. Are they alright?” Don asked. 

“Yes. They are fine. I’ll call them back here right away.” Leo said. 

“I’ll be back, Sensei. I’m just going to go take this off.” Don said. 

“Alright.”  
……………

Raph was annoyed to be called off patrol by Leo, but he and Mikey returned as quickly as they could for what this big emergency was. 

“What’s the big problem, Leo?” Raph growled. 

“Yeah, you sounded desperate on the phone.” Mikey said. 

“Guys, there is a big surprise.” Leo said with the biggest smile on his face he had had on in a long time. 

Then Leo stepped out of the way, and Don and Splinter stepped forward. 

Raph and Mikey stood with wide eyes. They weren’t sure this was real. 

“Hi guys.” Don greeted shyly. 

“Donny?” Raph said. 

“Don, is that really you?” Mikey asked. 

“Yes, it’s me. I’ve finally made it home to you all.” Don said. 

Raph and Mike ran to their genius brother and embraced him tightly. He did the same. And again, tears flowed, but they were happy tears. 

The mutant family was whole again. 

When the embracing was over, they all went to the living room to get the full explanation of what happened. 

Don was more than glad to be back and welcomed, but he was still unsure of sharing the information of what he went through. But he knew it was better to get it over with now. 

When they all sat down, they could see that Don was nervous about saying anything. He also had his arms in his lap, crossing over his stomach. 

“Donatello, I can understand that this is difficult for you, but we just want to know what happened.” Splinter said gently. 

Don sighed, swallowed, and began the story. 

When he was done telling it, they could see that Don was scared. They were happy to know of the few new human friends Don had made on his way home, but what Beatrice and her men had done was completely unforgivable! 

Don then proceeded to show his family his slightly swollen stomach. 

The others couldn’t believe this was happening. Don had been kidnapped and he had returned to them, pregnant. Things would never be the same again. And Don had been tortured and traumatized. It showed clearly in his voice to just talk about this. 

“We’ll get through this, Donny. As a family.” Leo said, as he scooted closer to Don, putting an arm around his shoulders. 

Don gave a sad smile. He knew his family would offer support and love to get him through this.   
…………..

That night, Don was so happy to be in his room again, but he was still having those dreams. He kept on tossing and turning, whining and crying in his sleep. He even screamed sometimes. It usually made him wake up panting. 

Don was glad he was home again, and that his long journey had ended, but the dreams just wouldn’t end. 

He seemed to dream about that man that had tried to kill him the most. And he dreamed of Beatrice, being there to take the baby when it was born. And of the situations that were like rape to him. 

In the privacy of his room, he couldn’t help but let the tears fall.


	12. Chapter 12

The next night, it was the biggest surprise of all to everyone that Donatello had returned, and just in time for Christmas! 

Don smiled at the gifts he got from his family and friends, but to them, he was their gift to them, now that he was back. They didn’t need anything else from him, though his other gift was that of the baby coming. 

They had a great dinner and fun togetherness time. Don sure didn’t want the party to end. 

Don’s stomach hadn’t been that noticeable to their guests. He hadn’t even wanted it brought up.   
…………….

Once the party was over, the next day, options were discussed about what could be done about the baby. 

“Do you think you can still train, Donatello?” Splinter asked. 

“I might be able to do some light exercises, Master, but I can’t do what I could before I was taken away. I did try to teach Ryan and Matt some moves, and pain just erupted inside me.” Don recalled the time. 

“You should get an exam done as soon as possible.” Leo said. “You want to make sure the little one and you are alright.” 

“I know. I was going to set that up as soon as I could.” Don replied. “I am just real worried about what’s going to happen with this baby.” 

“This shouldn’t have happened to ya, Donny. Ya sure ya want it?” Raph asked. 

“I’m not sure of anything right now, Raph. I know I’m in the middle of my fourth month and just everything scares me right now. I just got back from a long journey and just want to enjoy my family’s company again.” 

“We will be here for you and the baby, Don. This is a shock yes, but in a way, it’s a happy one too. We are adding onto our little family.” Leo said. 

“I’d love to help take care of him too.” Mikey said happily. 

“And what makes you think it’s a boy?” Don asked. 

“I don’t. Just wanting to call it something.” Mike said. “Have you thought of any names?” 

“No. I’ve been so busy trying to stay alive that I hadn’t thought about it. This is still just so awkward for me.” Don said.   
……………..

Don had gone to Leatherhead’s for an exam. He was real nervous about this. He had wanted to go alone despite protests from his nosy brothers. 

Don was waiting on his croc friend to get the machine ready. He was currently lying on his back, his belt removed. 

Soon, LH had the machine ready and he gelled up Don’s belly. “Just relax, Donatello.” He said. 

He let out a big sigh. “I’m trying.” 

Don could feel the probe moving about on his plastron. He kept his head turned toward Leatherhead’s quarters. 

Leatherhead was looking carefully at what was on the screen. From what Don had told him how this had happened, he could sense his friend was reluctant to accept this despite he had been carrying this child for over 4 months now. 

The big croc saw that the little hands, head, legs, spine, and even a little shell were mainly done forming. Leatherhead’s eyes softened greatly seeing this little innocent turtle on the screen. He saw the heart beating. He turned on the sound to hear it. 

Don’s eyes widened when he heard that sound. It made him turn his head. 

“Leatherhead. Is that-?” Don asked. 

“Yes. It is your child’s heartbeat.” LH smiled at Don. He then turned the screen to him. “This is your baby, my friend.” Then he put the probe back on Don’s belly. 

Don raised his head to see more clearly the formation of what looked like a baby turtle inside him. He was still hearing the baby’s heart going and seeing it going on the screen. 

The pregnant turtle could barely believe he was seeing this little living being inside of him and hearing its heart. Don’s eyes softened and tears came to his eyes. 

What had started out as an experiment that Don didn’t want was now something Don saw as more important than ever before. This was his child. 

LH decided to also try to see what was letting this baby grow inside him. He saw a membrane around the baby. Though he could get a better look on his scanner what was going on inside Don. 

Leatherhead now turned the machine off after he had pinpointed to print the picture. That way, Don could take it home and show the others. He gave Don a towel to clean his belly off as he sat up. 

“This is so hard to take in.” Don said, wiping his tears away. 

“It is at first. But is there something wrong you see with this?” LH asked. 

“I might have thought about having kids of my own one day with the right girl who loved me, if it was possible, but this way, it started as an experiment and felt all wrong, but after having seen this living little turtle inside me, I know I don’t have a choice.” Don said. 

“So are you wanting to have the baby?” 

“I know I’m not always the best patient, Leatherhead, but you and possibly April are going to have to be my doctors.” Don said. 

“And I’ll be here for you, whatever you need, my friend.” 

Don put his belt back on when he got back on his feet. He could still wear it, though he had to keep it looser all the time. 

“Here you go, Donatello.” LH said as he handed Don the sonogram picture. 

Don took it in his hands and held it up to the light. He could see the baby’s outline in the picture. It brought a smile to Don’s face. He couldn’t wait to show the others. 

“Before you go, Donatello, I just want to tell you that though the baby looks healthy, I want you to come back in a few days. I want to do a scan on you to see what is further going on in there. There has to be something that is permitting this child to be in there.” LH explained.

It had Don on the nervous side, but he knew it needed to be done. He wanted to know this too. “Alright, Leatherhead.” Then he went home.   
……………….

Out of the family, though the others had accepted Don’s new condition, Raphael was the most reluctant to accept this. Right now, he was watching as his brainy brother was showing Leo, Mikey, and Splinter the sonogram. 

They were all smiling and looking at the baby with awe. 

“Are you sure there’s no more in there?” Mikey asked. 

“No. Leatherhead searched me and found just that one.” Don said. 

“Raph, you should see the baby too. You’re going to be an uncle too.” Leo said. 

“I’ll see it another time.” Raph said grumpily. He turned and went to the dojo and started punching his punching bag. 

Don saw that Raph was hurt by this. His brother didn’t like this kind of change. It had taken that ultrasound even for him himself to finally fully accept that this baby was not just an experiment. He would have to talk to him later when he was calmer. 

“What’s it going to be?” 

“Huh?” Don snapped out of his thoughts. 

“What’s the baby going to be?” Mikey asked. 

“I don’t know, Mikey. We have to wait until the birth I’m afraid.” Don said. 

“Aw!” Mikey groaned. 

“It’ll be here before we know it.” Leo said. 

“Yeah, but I have no idea how long I’m actually going to be carrying it. But I am just estimating at maybe a human’s nine months. Should be due in May then.” Don said. 

“Spring is the optimum time for new babies to be born.” Splinter said. “I can’t wait to meet my new grandson or granddaughter.” 

Splinter went back to his room to meditate or do whatever. 

“Can you feel it move yet, Donny?” Mikey asked. 

“No. It’s still too soon for that.” Don said. 

“Let me know when it does. I want to feel it, please?” 

“We’ll see about it, Mikey, when the time comes.” Don said and went back to his room and put the picture in his desk drawer before going back to his lab. 

His lab was like his closest friend. He had much catching up to do on his projects and he began to get to work again.   
……………

April and Casey were in complete and utter shock when they found out about Don’s little secret. But they saw how his stomach was getting bigger, so they knew he wasn’t making it up. 

When the shock wore off, April agreed to definitely help Don out and be a second doctor if needed. And a friend to talk to if needed, especially since matters of pregnancy could be such a delicate matter. 

Aside from just carrying his child, Don still felt all male. But his softest side still came up when it came to emotions. 

Now that life was a little better with the turtles, since Don had returned, they were happier. It would still be awhile hopefully before the baby made an appearance. 

Splinter made it clear that Don was not going to be training with his brothers or patrolling until after the birth. The case of the kidnappers coming back might be too much of a risk. Or any other enemy finding out about it. 

Don was only doing some lighter exercises to keep in shape. He didn’t want to risk something bad happening again. And the baby was only going to get bigger. 

Donny loved being able to help his brothers with technology when they ran into it out there, but right now, it just wasn’t an option. If they needed him, he was a phone call away to try to guide them through it. And at the moment, he didn’t hold an objection to staying home. The lair’s security system needed major upgrades, as did other projects around the lair since he had been gone.


	13. Chapter 13

Beatrice had a feeling her turtle would come back to New York, as it had been his original home. Once she got him back, she would have to put much more extreme measures into place to keep him. She wanted him and the baby back. 

She still had no idea who it had been that had enabled him to escape in the first place. 

She employed the Foot clan leader again. 

“Oh, couldn’t contain the smart one, huh?” Karai smirked. “Donatello is very crafty.” 

“And its because of that craftiness why I want him back. Plus much more.” Beatrice said. “I’ve seen his potential. He’s worth keeping alive. But I need to know, has he been seen as of late?” 

“No. We’ve seen the other turtles from time to time, but not Donatello.” Karai said. 

“Maybe the others know something. I didn’t want them, but maybe its time one or all of them need to be brought in for information.” Beatrice said. 

Karai liked this idea. She could have the one responsible as well for the crimes against her father. The one that she blamed the most. 

“We’ll bring them in.” Karai said.   
……………..

When it got too cold out, even Leo knew it was a bad idea for them to be outside. They would hold off on patrols a bit more in the coldest times of winter. 

Blizzards were going on right now, and Raph was going stir crazy down here. But living in this new lair, he could at least go to April’s to see her and Casey if he desperately needed to see his human friends. Or he would just go for runs in the sewers. Leo just didn’t want him going out in that horrible, frigid weather. 

Raph was having a hard time adapting to this new change in the lair and his family. He was more than happy that Don was back, but he was just extremely worried for his brother’s safety carrying and having this baby. It just wasn’t natural. It had been bad enough losing him the first time. He didn’t want to lose him again.   
……………

Don went back to Leatherhead’s a few days later to see if there was something more to this pregnancy to be making it happen. 

This time, instead of having an ultrasound, LH had Don lay down on a machine that would take a scan of his body, sort of like a CAT scan, or MRI. 

Don was nervous about what was going to be found, but he too wanted to know what was permitting him to be pregnant too. He knew he didn’t have female reproductive organs, so there had to be something else at work here, and he still remembered the torture of having to give his seed all the time at the beginning of the experiment. 

He was allowed to get comfortable enough, then Leatherhead began the scan when he said he was ready. 

“Just hold still now.” The croc said, and hit the button. 

Don closed his eyes as the scan began. It started at his feet and worked its way up his body. He held perfectly still. 

When it was done, Don was allowed to get up and he went over to try to help Leatherhead find out what they were dealing with. 

As the two friends looked at Don’s scan, they could see the precious baby in Don’s belly. It brought a smile to his face, but he knew he needed to concentrate on the business at hand too. 

They looked carefully, and they both spotted something down towards Don’s lower belly. It was something small, that looked like a tube or something. And somehow, that tube was giving Don what looked like, an artificial womb in his stomach to house this baby. It was in front of his intestines, at least it meant the baby was separate from his internal organs. But it was sure to press on them later. 

The tube had been put into a empty space in his abdominal cavity. Now he knew more of what they meant when the doctor had been using the ultrasound back at the beginning to find a spot and inject it into his body. 

But then, Donny wondered what would happen when it was time for the baby to be born. This womb was not a natural part of his body, so how would he know when it was time? It worried him greatly. And Beatrice had said she had done this on some other male test subjects. And all but one or two had died. 

Don gulped. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to lose the baby or have his family live without him again. And he had no idea how this pregnancy was going to go. This really scared him. 

“Because we have no experience in this field, Donatello, I will have to monitor you and the baby carefully.” Leatherhead said. 

“Thanks, Leatherhead. I’ll make sure to monitor myself too. And I know that I too need to research more on pregnancy. To maybe know what to come to possibly expect.” Don agreed. 

Don would definitely be monitored every few weeks as long as everything was alright and he wasn’t in pain.   
………….

The Foot clan was out looking for any of the turtles. They had to know something of their brother coming back. Donatello was too loyal to them. 

For all he cared, Beatrice’s chief officer had hoped that the turtle had died out there in the wilderness. He hated seeing her go through this just for one failed mutant turtle experiment. He was a freak. And so were these brothers of his they were trying to capture now. If given the order, he would be glad to kill them too.

The men and ninjas were waiting the turtles out, but right now, it just wasn’t easy to find them. Just like their normal cousins, the turtles were cold blooded too and couldn’t handle the cold that well if they stayed out in it too long.   
……………

The boys still came out in the winter for patrols, but sometimes, just not as often. 

Don was glad to be back with his family, and though he was happy with working on his projects, at times, even he wanted to get out of the lair for some fresh air. But the others were afraid of him being seen in this condition. Or what if he fell on ice and hurt himself? If he fell on his stomach, it could hurt the baby. They just couldn’t allow it to happen. 

And if he was to be pregnant till May, by the time spring came, his belly would be too big by then to patrol. 

But there still were times when Donny had to go to the junkyard to get parts for his projects. And as for this, all his brothers made sure to go with him and in the Battle Shell. The hunting for parts was also kept to a short time too. 

Don hated some of these restrictions, but he understood why. He didn’t want to worry about recapture. 

It had been over 3 weeks since Donny had come home. They were glad he was home, but things just weren’t the same as before. 

Don tried to act like his old self when he was up and awake, but he always seemed a little tired too. He hadn’t pulled too many all-nighters since he got back. But he seemed to not be getting a lot of sleep either. In truth, he still had the nightmares. 

Mikey had discovered it one night, that he was moaning and tossing and turning in bed. He was sweaty and looked like he was in pain. 

Mikey woke him up, and Don had looked at him with the most scared expression. 

“What was it about?” Mikey had asked. 

“Something that Beatrice had her men do to me.” Don replied. It still sent a shiver down his spine. 

“Do you want me to stay with you?” Mike asked.

Don hadn’t slept alongside any of his brothers for many years now, but at the moment, he wanted some comfort. “Yes, please.” 

Mikey was more than happy to make his brother happy. He laid down beside him. Don cuddled into his body heat like a scared child. And Mikey even caressed Don’s swollen belly. 

Don had tensed a little at the touch, but relaxed. He had to know that while he was pregnant, the others were going to want to touch his stomach to acknowledge the baby. And Mikey was still anxious to feel for movements too. 

Even at over 19 weeks along, Don still hadn’t exactly felt real movement yet. But he had read up on it, and was expecting it anytime now. 

And also when he was up, Don didn’t exactly have cravings for coffee anymore. The smell made him want to gag. One of the tastes that had changed, but then, while he was gone, he hadn’t had it in so long either.  
……………..

One night, all of Don’s brothers went out patrolling while he was left at home to work. 

When they got to the surface, Leo let Raph go off on his own, regarding he call should he run into trouble. Leo and Mikey stuck together tonight. 

They knew something was up with Raph, and decided to let him vent it out on his own. But ever since Raph had found out about the baby, he had become much more distant to Don and the others. They were all so excited about the new life coming into their lives, and he was not. 

Raph had headed towards the docks, while Leo and Mikey headed more towards Midtown. 

The weather wasn’t too bad tonight. It had actually warmed up into the 40’s, but still a little chilly enough for the turtles. But as long as they kept on moving, they should be fine as long as they met a certain time to be out. 

But also tonight, the Foot clan was out and again looking for the turtles. As it turned out, Leo and Mikey got spotted. They were pursued. 

Mikey began to freak out when he realized they were chased by their worst enemies. Leo kept himself between him and the Foot as best he could. But they were both overpowered and couldn’t call Raph for backup. 

Leo had tried to hold them off while telling Mikey to get away, and he had tried to, but there were so many of the ninjas that both were darted and taken away anyway.   
…………….

When they both came to, they were both bound in different cells. 

Leo was bound at a wall, his hands high above his head. His ankles were also shackled. He didn’t see Mikey anywhere. He hoped his little brother wasn’t being tortured. 

Mikey was also bound by a wall, but he just had shackles on his wrists. He could move about a little bit. He was worried about Leo, as well as himself. 

They wondered where they were. And of course, they had been stripped of their weapons and phones. 

Leo could already feel he was losing circulation in his hands. He hoped his captors got to the point of what this was about soon. But at least he was glad that they hadn’t captured Don. But what about Raph? Could he still be out there as well?   
…………..

Raph ran the docks for awhile and found nothing of trouble, so he soon headed home. 

When he got there, he saw that his other two brothers hadn’t returned yet. But if they had run into trouble, they would have phoned him. He went about to relax. He didn’t wish to disturb Don. 

Don had heard the lair door open and peeked his head out, and saw it was just Raphael. He was waiting for Raph to come to him to sort this out.   
…………..

Back at the Foot headquarters, they were ready to get the interrogation under way. But they needed some insurance so to speak. 

Some ninjas got Mikey and brought him to Leo’s room. 

The turtles were happy to see one another, but hoped the other was going to be ok. Mikey was tied to the other wall in the room. 

“What do you want with us?” Leo demanded. 

“Just some information, and you are going to give it to us, or face torture! One way or another, you are going to talk!” Beatrice’s lead man said. 

“You won’t get anything out of us!” Mikey said. 

“You don’t even know what’s its about yet.” 

“More than likely something bad.” Leo said. 

“All we want is information from you on the whereabouts of Donatello.” 

Leo looked at Mikey, and they both had wide eyes. Their agreement was silent and both knew what the other was thinking. 

“We don’t know where he is. He hasn’t been home for some time.” Mikey said. 

“Yeah, he got taken away from us by someone.” Leo added. 

“Yes, by us, and he has escaped. We have the biggest hunch that he would come back here to this city. He’s too loyal to you guys to just escape and stay in the wilderness.” The man said. 

Of course Don had come back here to New York, but they wouldn’t tell him that he had made it back here. Don would be in big trouble if they got him back. And this man sounded like the one that Donny had described that had tried to kill him when he did make his escape. 

Leo and Mikey could see why this man was so intimidating. He was pretty tall. He was pretty muscle bound too. He was like a little bit shorter version of Hun, only he had shorter, darker hair. 

“What did you want with Donatello in the first place?” Leo demanded. 

“Our mistress, Beatrice, wanted him for breeding and to see how smart he was. To see what he was capable of figuring out. She wanted to duplicate his genes, considering he‘s capable of doing what most humans have never done before.” 

Well, that had certainly been done. 

“Yeah, well, like we said, Donatello hasn’t made it back here. We haven’t seen him in months.” Leo lied. “I’m sure even Karai’s ninjas would say they haven’t seen him on the streets. You won’t get much more from us. We don’t know where he is.” 

“Oh, come on now, guys. You must know of a secret hideaway somewhere where your brother could be.” 

“No, we don’t.” Mikey said. 

“If you’re quite through with us, how about you let us go?” Leo stated.

“Oh no, no, no. If we can’t find your brother this way, then we’ll just have to get it out of you, or my boss may want to have you take your brother’s place in her breeding program.” The man said. 

That alarmed both turtles. 

“Though you, the one in blue, Ms. Karai wants you for herself. So when we are through with you, you are going to her.” 

Leo had ideas of what Karai would want to do with him, but he didn’t want to think about it. 

But it didn’t matter one way or another. Neither of them was going to reveal where Donny was.


	14. Chapter 14

It had been hours now since they had all first went out, and Leo and Mikey still weren’t home yet. 

Splinter was in bed already. Don was still up working. Raph had been watching wrestling mania on TV, but eventually, he began to get sleepy. But even he got a little worried when his brothers didn’t come home. 

But Don especially noticed what was going on. He had been waiting on Mikey to come home so he could go to bed. Lately, he had been helping him get a more peaceful sleep. 

Don’s hormones were making him sleepy a lot more and when Mikey hadn’t come home yet, along with Leo, he went out to talk to Raph. 

“Raph, how long ago when you talked to Leo?” Don asked. 

“It was over a couple hours ago. They should have been back by now.” Raph answered. “I’m ready to go to bed. I’m sure they’ll come home. Sometimes even they get caught up in wanting to have fun.” 

Raph turned the TV off and was preparing to head to his room. 

Don couldn’t wait any longer. “Wait, Raph. I know you’re tired, but we really need to talk about this.” 

“About what, Brainiac?” 

“You know what, Raph. Ever since I came back and you found out I was pregnant, you have been avoiding me. Why is that?” 

He couldn’t answer right away, but he soon said, “I don’t mean for this to hurt you, Donny. I’m just worried about what this pregnancy could do to you. This ain’t natural.” 

“I know it’s not. But it’s happening, Raph. This baby will change our lives. But I’m doing everything I can to make sure both me and the baby are alright. Leatherhead is monitoring me. And I’m doing my research on what to expect. And with what Leo and Mikey are doing, I just need you to be there for me too.” 

Raph looked at the concerned look on Don’s face. It was so hard to ever say no to that face. 

“I love ya, Donny, and just don’t want to lose you. I just don’t know how to do this when you know I’m not the big mushy type. But I’ll be here to protect ya no matter what.” 

Don probably couldn’t have expected less. He hugged Raph anyway. “Thanks, Raph. I love you too.” 

Raph loved seeing Don happy. He gave an embrace back, though he was wary of Don’s belly being against his. 

But then, Raph told Don to go to bed and try to get some sleep. Though he was tired, he would stay up and wait for the other two. Don needed the extra rest. 

Don reluctantly went to bed. He just hoped he would be able to sleep. 

Sure, Leo and Mikey had stayed out all night before, but if they weren’t back by sunrise, there might be trouble going on. Enemies often took away or destroyed their phones too.   
……………

When Mikey and Leo kept on refusing to tell the men where Don was, Beatrice finally came into the room to introduce herself. She figured maybe a woman’s touch was needed. 

“Come on now, guys. Surely you know your brother well enough to have a secret hiding place somewhere. I must have him back before the baby is due to be born.” 

“You know impregnating him like that could kill him! He can’t deliver a baby naturally.” Leo said.

“Oh, I am prepared to help him deliver it safely. And I would do it again. He has genes that are worth passing on. And I want more of them.” 

“Donny would never let you have his baby!” Mikey blurted out. 

“But I want his baby whether he would want me to or not. I can’t resist cute little baby turtles. And this one would be even more special, considering it might be more human like, kind of like you guys and its father.” Beatrice said. 

“And what if Donatello refuses to give you anymore babies?” Leo asked. 

“He never exactly said yes to the first one either. But with you four being the only ones of your kind and no females, I had to find a way for pregnancy to happen. And the experiment worked! He did well in carrying his first one while he was with me. But somehow, he escaped, and like I said, now I must get him back before the birth is due.” The woman said. 

“So you forced it on him?! Donatello is the kindest soul you could ever meet and he would be willing to help anyone with anything just about. But doing something like that would make him turn against you. You can’t force something like that on anyone and expect them to like you.” Leo explained. 

“And we’ve told you what we know. Can’t you just let us go now?” Mikey asked. 

“Nope. Actually, holding on to you two actually might bring your brother out of hiding. I know you still have one other brother out there, but if Donatello made it back here, more than likely he would be coming with him.” 

Both Leo and Mikey knew without a doubt that Don would usually come to help save the day along with Raph, but if Don knew who had them, hopefully he would stay away. These enemies couldn’t know he was home and they couldn’t be allowed to get him back. He was in no condition for a big fight. 

“Our family will try to find us, but we can tell you right now, that Donatello is not coming!” Leo tried his best lie. 

“Well, perhaps it is also time for Ms. Karai to also get what she wants with you, uh, Leonardo, is it?” Beatrice said. 

Some Foot ninjas came into the room next when they heard it was their cue. They came over to the blue masked turtle and it had been awhile since he’d been hung up there. They released his bonds holding his wrists. 

When his hands were freed, Leo couldn’t help falling to the floor. He landed hard on them, but began to rub them to get the feeling back into them. But it wasn’t a moment later that he was grabbed and pulled to his feet. Then his feet were undone and they began to drag him from the room. 

“Be strong, Mikey.” Leo said on his way out. 

“I’ll try.” Mikey said. 

When they had taken Leo out of the room, Mikey looked at the woman before him. Now what? 

“What’s going to be done with my brother?!” Mikey demanded. 

“That’s up to the Foot to decide. I’m not deciding on what’s to be done with him. That’s Karai’s decision. But for now, enjoy being alone. You may not like it when your brother is returned to you.” Beatrice said. Then she and her men left the room. 

Mikey was scared for Leo’s life. He knew that Karai had been wanting revenge for a long time on them, but Leo the most.   
…………..

Leo was taken a little ways down the hall from Mikey. He knew to expect the worst. 

He was brought into a surgical type room. It had a table in the middle of it. 

Leo instantly tensed up and was not going to cooperate without a fight. He began an instant struggle, trying to get away. But the more he fought, the more these men tightened their grips on his arms and pulled him to the table. 

He used all the strength that he had in him to not be pulled toward that table, but in one instant when he wasn’t looking and fighting so hard, Leo felt something hit him in the stomach so hard it made him grunt in the process. 

Leo couldn’t help but fall to the floor, trying to breathe. He looked up and saw a big crowbar in the hands of the big man he had seen before. 

Then he was pulled onto the table without more fighting them. His stomach ached from the blow. He was still trying to catch his breath when Karai came into the room. 

“Finally, I can get revenge on you, Leonardo, for what you did to my father!” Karai growled. 

“Karai, your father deserved everything that he got as his punishment. You saw the testaments. He was nothing but a murderer!” 

Karai was in her Shredder armor. That statement made her so mad that she sliced Leo’s left bicep. 

It caused the turtle to cry out in pain. 

“You there. You said something about Donatello. Well, punish this one as to how you would with that turtle.” Karai ordered. She had been talking to Beatrice’s chief officer. 

“I’d be glad to.” 

Leo opened his eyes as he heard that. He knew he wasn’t going to like this. But he would rather be going through this to protect Mikey. 

Leo gulped nervously when he saw the saw being prepped.   
………….

Mikey hated being alone in this lonely cell. He wanted so badly to go home. And to go home with his oldest brother at his side. 

All of a sudden, he could hear Leo screaming. It sounded like it wasn’t very far away. He was clearly in pain. 

He shivered at the thought of what was happening. He hoped it wasn’t going to happen to him too. He wanted to go the room and comfort his brother from whatever was hurting him.   
……………

Leo’s throat was sore from all the screaming by the time the saw was done with him. His blood soaked the table. He desperately tried to breathe. 

“Where is your brother?!” The demand came again. 

Leo was so busy trying to stay awake and breathe that he couldn’t answer. 

“Answer or you’ll get some more!” 

“I- can’t-” The gasping turtle managed to say before he finally passed out from the pain. 

They tried to wake him up, but he wouldn’t come to. 

“So what now?” 

“Wrap him up. I want to see his brother suffer too. But by being with Leonardo.” Karai said. 

“Yes, Mistress.”   
…………….

Mikey was released from his shackles and was surprised at it. 

Then, what more was a shock that the door opened and in walked some Foot ninjas with an unconscious Leonardo with his middle wrapped up in bandages and his left bicep. 

Mikey couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His brother was hurt, possibly dying! 

Then the ninjas threw Leonardo to the floor without a care as if he was just a piece of trash. 

Leo did groan a little at the landing, but didn’t wake up. 

“Hey!” Mikey shouted. 

The humans walked back out and locked the door. 

Mikey went over to Leo and cradled his head in his lap. “Leo? Can you hear me?” He asked desperately. 

He felt Leo’s neck for a pulse. It was still going, but a little weak. Mikey looked down at Leo’s middle, and from the blood showing through the bandages, he had been losing a lot of blood. 

“Leo, please don’t leave me!” Mikey started to cry. “We’re going to get out of this. We’re going to be uncles. You have to live through this.” 

Leo didn’t respond, but he was still breathing.


	15. Chapter 15

At the lair, it had been all night and Leo and Mikey still hadn’t returned. 

Splinter was just getting up and he found some of the lair’s lights were still on. But he did see that Don’s lights were off in his lab. Good he was getting some sleep. But the kitchen lights were on and he went to check it out. 

He found Raphael sitting with a soda at the table. 

“What is wrong, Raphael?” Splinter asked. 

“I’m tired, Sensei, and I’ve been up all night waiting for Leo and Mikey to come home. I told Don I would.” Raph said. 

“And they haven’t come home?”

“No. I would’ve heard the door open. I don’t know what happened.” 

“Maybe you should try calling them.” Splinter advised. 

“I was just hoping they’d come home on their own. But alright.” Raph said. 

He took out his shell cell and dialed Leo’s number. He didn’t pick up. It went to his voicemail. 

Raph tried again. Again, no answer. Then he tried Mikey’s phone and no answer either. 

“I don’t like this. Neither one is picking up, Sensei.” Raph said. 

“I am sensing something is very wrong here. We might have to wake up Donatello.” Splinter said. 

“But you know that if we have to go save them, Donny can’t come with us.” 

“Yes, I am aware of that, Raphael. I will come in his place. Or April and Casey. But Donatello can help us track them down.” Splinter said. 

Raph went to reluctantly wake Don up from his sleep. He looked to be in pain, again. 

“Hey, Donny. Need ya to wake up now.” Raph nudged Don. 

“Agh!” Don woke up, startled. “Raph?” 

“Don, what’s wrong?” 

“I was dreaming, of Leo and Mikey. Raph, I think they’re in trouble! Did they ever come home?”

“No. They could have been taken by an enemy, but who, we don’t know. That’s why we need your help in this matter.” Raph said. 

Don got up and went to his computer to track down the last places the shell cell signals were at. Splinter and Raph were in the lab too. Don found the spot they were kidnapped at. 

“We will go there and start the search for them.” Splinter said. “Donatello, you know you cannot come.” 

Don nodded. “I know, but I wish I could.” 

“We’ll call ya if we need ya help.” Raph said. 

Feeding them the signal, Raph and Splinter went to try to find Leo and Mikey. Even if they had to be out there in broad daylight. 

Don was disappointed that he couldn’t go, but he did call up April and Casey that there was possible trouble. They said to keep them posted.   
…………..

At the spot later on, Splinter smelled around as well as looked. Raph was looking for signs and clues too. But Splinter caught on real quick. 

“The Foot!” 

“Ya sure, Sensei?” Raph asked. 

“Yes. We must get your brothers back.” 

“Who knows what they’re doing to them!” Raph growled. 

“We must have April and Casey’s help in this.” 

Raph agreed. They went home and rallied their human allies to their aid and headed to the Foot headquarters to get their brothers back. Though, once again, Don had to sadly stay behind.   
…………….

Mikey tried to keep his older brother warm as much as he could. He still hadn’t woken up. He really hoped Leo wasn’t going to die. But he couldn’t help the amount of tears he had let fall. 

All of a sudden, there was an alarm going off. Mikey hoped it was his family. 

April had to be the science whiz when it came to the technology in the building at the moment. She found the prisoners ward and she, Raph, Splinter, and Casey all headed there. 

They opened every door along the way. 

Mikey was surprised when his door was opened up, but he wouldn’t move from Leo. He was surprised to see his family. But he cried happily, “Man, am I happy to see you guys!” 

“What happened to Leo?” April asked. 

“I’ll tell you later.” Mikey said. 

Raph picked up Leo and carried him bridal style when he saw the bloodied bandages on his middle. 

“Be careful with him, Raph. He’s very weak.” Mikey said. 

“I’ll be careful with him.” 

Together, the five friends fought their way out of the building, Karai’s minions and Beatrice’s men alike. Raph had even handed Leo gently off to Mike and Casey to fight Beatrice’s chief officer and killed him in vengeance for hurting his brother. 

They got out to the Battle Shell and Leo was laid on the bed in the back. He was still unconscious. Don would need to check him when they got home.   
……………..

“So I see it failed to bring Donatello to you.” Karai said. 

“I will find that turtle again, one way or another!” Beatrice vowed.   
…………..

Don was in complete shock when he saw how bad in shape Leo was in. 

“What happened to him?!” He demanded. 

“I think they used a saw on him. I didn’t see what they did to him, but I heard him screaming.” Mikey explained. 

Don and April got to work on fixing Leo up. 

They saw that his plastron had not been fixed up following his torture. Leo was going to need a blood transfusion. 

Leo’s plastron was cleaned and patched up while Don prepared Raph for a transfusion for Leo. 

Raph was exhausted by the time he was done giving blood. 

“Thanks for the blood, Raph. You go and get some rest.” Don said. 

“I don’t know if I can rest not knowing if Leo’s going to be ok.” Raph said. 

“We’ll let you know if anything happens, we promise.” April said. 

Raph reluctantly went to his room to get some sleep. He was so tired that he fell to sleep instantly. 

Mikey was also worried about Leo. 

“Mikey, I know you are concerned too, but you need rest as well.” Don said. 

“Can I stay in here with him?” 

“Sure. Take that cot over there.” Don said. 

Mike dragged it over next to Leo’s and laid down and went to sleep. 

Leo was hooked up to a heart monitor. He was breathing on his own ok. The new blood seemed to be helping improve his signs. 

Don couldn’t believe the Foot had stooped so low as to do this to his eldest brother. He needed Leo in his life too. He would never forgive himself if he couldn’t take care of him. 

Don and Splinter watched Leo the most throughout the day while the others slept. But when they did awaken, they wanted their turns to spend time with him too. 

Don reluctantly took his breaks to get stuff to eat and relax a little, though it was hard to. But he knew he also had to take care of the baby too. And the last thing he needed right now was this big of stress. 

Mikey later told him that they had been captured originally to recapture Don himself. But Karai had also been wanting revenge against Leo too. 

Don felt so guilty for this, but he couldn’t let himself be caught again. He knew who the guilty party was that wanted him back.


	16. Chapter 16

Leo woke up a few days later and he was in incredible pain. 

“Leo, you’re awake!” Don said. “How are you feeling?” 

Leo groaned. “Like I’ve been- turned inside out- and back.” 

“You’re going to be ok.” 

“Let’s hope so.” 

“Hey guys! He’s awake!” Don called. 

Leo winced at that. 

And then, Don felt an enormous bump inside him. It made him jump too. 

“What was that?” 

“What?” Leo asked. 

Then the family filed in. 

“Leo! You had us all very scared.” Raph said. 

“You’re going to be just fine.” April said. 

“I’m glad you didn’t leave me!” Mikey cried. 

Leo gave a smile. “Don… said something.” He said weakly. 

“What?” 

“I’m glad you’re ok, but when I yelled, I felt something inside me.” Don said. 

“The baby moved?” Mikey asked. 

“I think so.” Don said. 

Don was standing right next to the table where Leo was. Leo, though very weak, raised his injured arm to Don’s belly and put his hand on it. 

Don looked down, but allowed him to do it. 

“Hey, Little One.” Leo said. 

They all couldn’t have been happier at that moment. Don smiled that in a way, his unborn child was also seeming to help Leo feel a little happier and better. 

The baby moved some more under Leo’s hand, and even Don felt the baby move. 

“It’s- amazing. It- really is.” Leo said weakly. 

“I know. And you’re going to be an amazing uncle when you’re well and it’s been born.” Don said.   
…………….

Leo continued to get well again following that day, but he wouldn’t be able to do intensive workouts for some time. 

The saw had cut pretty deep into his plastron, though just barely missing his organs. But his bicep was healing fine with the stitches being in it. 

Don had also feared another forced pregnancy on either of his brothers because Beatrice had been there, but they assured him they hadn’t done anything other than ask for information and what they did to torture Leo. 

The movements had begun and now, the baby seemed to be most active after Don ate and when it was time to go to bed. 

Don reluctantly at times let two of his brothers feel the baby move. They even talked to his stomach.   
“We just want him or her to know our voices too.” Mikey said. 

Also the feeling of the baby was helping Leo feel a lot happier too. Don was glad he was helping his brother get better.  
…………….

With all the threats piling up because of Don’s pregnancy, the turtle family decided maybe it was time to go back up to the farmhouse for awhile. It wasn’t all that safe to do patrols here during the winter anyway. 

They packed up their most beloved belongings, Don probably packing the most, as he would need lots of science stuff to keep him happily satisfied. And he most definitely needed his computer, so he could read up about baby stuff. 

Leatherhead was notified of them leaving, but he said for Don to come back at least once a month so he could do an exam to make sure everything was going ok with the baby, or if something felt wrong. The big croc would stay behind for now, but he would probably be coming up near the end of the pregnancy. 

When they got to the farmhouse, they all unpacked their stuff. Don was insistent on still being able to carry his own things. Raph and Mikey were insistent on letting them help him carry the heavy things at least. Leo would have wanted to help, but he was on restriction with his stomach injuries. 

Leo felt really lousy and felt like he couldn’t be any use to his family right now. But at least for the moment, he wasn’t alone in the ‘no intensive workouts department.’ 

He had had no real idea of knowing what the Foot men had done to him in the torture room other than cutting his belly up and making sure he screamed for Karai’s amusement. Karai had just wanted to make sure he suffered some big pain. And he was still in a lot of pain. But he just didn’t say anything. He was barely allowed to be up on his feet for long. 

In a way, Leo felt that he and Don were in the same boat, but Don had a better deal of that boat. At least he could still move about and lift some things anyway. And he could still exercise. 

Despite his pregnancy, Don was going to be determined to get as many projects done while he could. And he hoped he wouldn’t have to go on bed rest anytime soon. As his belly was getting bigger, it might complicate some things, like going underneath the truck if it needed fixing under there. But the others would be there to help him, even if he might not totally like the idea all the time. 

Once they got settled in, it was time for ninja training. They went outside for it in the backyard, in case someone might drive by. 

Leo sat sadly inside, watching his brothers outside. He watched through the kitchen window. He had a cup of tea in front of him. He wanted to be out there so bad with them. 

And though Donny was out there with the rest of them, he couldn’t train with Raph and Mikey. He began his lighter exercises away from his two brothers. 

Leo tried to think of a way he could still be involved. Then it hit him. He could do what Splinter did; be like a coach and teacher while his injuries healed. But only Don could tell him he could exercise again, and right now, his stomach protested a lot still. 

Leo finished drinking his tea before it got cold and went outside and sat on the swing out there. He just wanted to be out there with them. 

“Leo! What are you doing out here?” Don asked. 

“I’m just watching, Don. I’m not going to do anything.” Leo said sincerely. “I know I can’t.” 

“Alright.” 

“Are you warm enough, Donny?” Leo asked. 

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“Making sure you’re ok too. Wouldn’t be good if you got sick.” 

Don gave a slight glare, but knew he was right. He didn’t need the stress of sickness while carrying his child. He had already had that back in the earlier stages and didn’t want to go back to that. He went on with his exercises. 

After he was done, he went back on the porch and Leo spoke up again, “Don, since I can’t exercise much at the moment, what if you let me do something for you?” 

“Leo, you can’t do much in movement at the moment.”

“I meant, would you let me be more of your coach while this is going on? And I’ll coach Raph and Mikey too.” 

Don gave it a quick thought. “Yeah, that would be alright, but try not to be too overbearing. There are some things that my emotions can have weird reactions to. I can’t help it.” 

Leo smiled. “I’ll try to be careful.” 

So the next day, with Leo sitting in a chair beside Splinter, he watched his two active training brothers and gave them pointers. He then coached Don in maybe ways on how to breathe more properly while moving. Then they did some yoga in the house. 

Leo and Don became more like a team in the coming weeks, doing a lot of breathing techniques together. And Don did make it clear for Leo to do some exercises with his arms and legs as long as it didn’t stress his stomach injuries. 

Raph and Mikey seemed to be a little jealous at times, but they were still allowed to hang out with them. Mikey especially loved feeling the baby move. 

Don’s nightmares had started to seem to disappear, but would still pop up every now and again. 

Raph had told Don that he had killed a man when they rescued Leo. And when that man had been described, Don had said that was the man who had tried to kill him the day he escaped. And he had been lucky to have escaped that man’s wrath.   
……………

At one time, it had gotten real cold outside and Splinter said to his sons to just stay inside and find something to do. But being a goofball and needing to expend his energy, Mikey had to go outside and do something. But he knew better than to wander too far. 

Mikey built a snowman outside. He made a real good one too. Then he felt like coming inside to start dinner. 

April and Casey had brought some supplies up a few days ago. They couldn’t stay up here much because of their jobs, but the guys were more than welcome. 

It was a great dinner, with lasagna and mashed potatoes and cookies for dessert. 

The day finished off with Leo and Don doing some more breathing practices, Mikey feeling the baby, in a way of saying goodnight. Even Leo liked to feel the baby. Raph was more hesitant. Splinter did some bedtime meditation. 

Then the next day, when it was time to get up for morning training, Mikey didn’t feel so well. He was coughing, sneezing, throwing up, had a headache, was nauseated, and just plain didn’t feel well. He also had a fever. 

“You were told not to go outside, Mikey.” Don lectured. 

“I just- wanted some- fun in- the snow.” Mikey had sniffled several times. 

“Great, now we might all get sick!” Raph grumped. 

There would be no real training for awhile now. Raph would have only been able to train with Splinter, with three other brothers who couldn’t train. But this was a good opportunity to see if Splinter could keep Raph entertained. 

After all exercises and training was done, Splinter made Mikey some soup. Hopefully, it would help his illness. Don thought it could be the flu. He would be out of action for awhile. 

As much as Don could be a doctor, right now, it would be best if he stayed away from his sick brother. He didn’t need to be infected with this ailment. Of course, Leo and Raph didn’t need it either. But if they got it too, Don couldn’t go near them either. 

Don immediately washed his hands after he had been near Mikey. He had to keep his hands a lot cleaner now so that he didn’t get sick. And working with the many projects that he did, he often got very dirty. 

April had made sure to have Don start taking prenatal vitamins and it had been a little hard to obtain, but when she heard that Mikey was sick, she got a vaccine for Don immediately. 

Don winced at the pinch in his arm as April gave him the injection. 

“This should help, but if you must go near him, or if your brothers catch it, wear this mask so you don’t breath it in.” She said. 

“Thanks, April.” Don said. 

April and Casey would be up here while Mikey was sick, in case the other turtles got it. April took over as the doctor. Splinter did most of the cooking of Mikey’s food, though April was more than happy to help with that too. 

Leo and Raph were given masks as well, but within days, they too were showing signs of being infected with the flu too. None of them felt well. And now more than ever, Don needed to stay away from all his brothers. 

Don felt bad that he couldn’t help his brothers, but his condition just made it so he couldn’t be near them. It would probably be a lot worse for him. And they couldn’t risk complications with the baby. It was still too small to be born. 

April made sure Don washed his hands, as well as he did, and she sprayed around the house, as long as Don wasn’t in the room, just to keep the flu germs at bay.


	17. Chapter 17

It took several days of rest, staying clean, staying warm, having plenty of fluids, and so on and the three turtles finally started to feel better finally. 

During the time his brothers had been sick, Don had had to sleep in a separate room, as well as wear a mask that covered his mouth and nose so he wouldn’t breathe in the bad germs. He had felt guilty for not being able to be there for his bros. But the family hadn’t wanted to take any chances. 

When Leo recovered from the flu, when he wasn’t with Don or the others, he would sometimes sulk in the barn. He seemed to be upset about something. 

Don’s hormones kept him pretty warm outside. He one day saw him head out there, and he decided to follow. 

He saw from around the corner that Leo had lit a fire in the stove out there, a sign that he was going to be out there awhile. Don took that opportunity to go in to see what was bothering him. 

“Leo?” Don asked calmly. 

Leo looked back at him. “Hey, Don. What brings you out here?” 

“I noticed that you have been feeling down lately. What’s wrong?” Don asked. 

“It’s nothing, really.” 

“Come on, Leo. I know you better than that.” 

Leo knew his brainy brother wasn’t going to give up so easily. “I feel bad for everything that’s happened to us over the past several months. What happened to you and I was unable to stop them from kidnapping you. What they did to me just trying to find you. And what they could have done to Mikey, but I was glad to have taken this injury before him.” Leo declared his feelings. “And I’m also glad you didn’t get the flu.” 

“Leo, you can’t protect us from everything, but you did protect me from not telling them that I was home again. You are helping me with my exercises. You are a great big brother. I know this has been a hard road, but like you told me when I got back, we’ll get through this together.” Don tried to cheer Leo up. “And yes, I’m glad I didn’t catch it too.” 

Don couldn’t help but want to hug Leo. Leo gladly accepted the gesture. Then he couldn’t help but rub Don’s swollen belly. “How’s the little one?” 

“It’s doing fine. I’m due to have another exam in a few days.” Don said. “And how’s your stomach?” 

“It’s not as painful now. But my plastron’s still healing.” 

“It’ll still take a little while yet.” 

Leo relaxed. Donny did have a way of making him relax. And although he tried to remain calm, he was happy and excited about the baby coming, but he still worried about something going so wrong because he knew Don being pregnant wasn’t natural. But everything seemed to be ok thus far, and he hoped it remained to be that way until the baby was rightfully due.   
……………

When Don was taken back to the city for his exam, he reluctantly let the others come this time. He knew they would make a big deal about it. But they wanted to see his baby too. Raph had been quite reluctant to come, but he had been urged to come. He was going to be an uncle too. 

The others watched as Donny laid down the exam table and Leatherhead gelled up his belly for a new exam. 

Once the screen was ready, the baby was quickly located and Don couldn’t have felt happier at seeing his son or daughter again. The others were also just as thrilled and amazed at how much the baby had gotten. And as Raph was looking along with them this time, just seeing that little mini turtle on screen seemed to make him soften. 

LH played the heartbeat too and they all couldn’t believe that was the baby’s heart. It made them all want to meet the new baby all the more. Tears were once more in Don’s eyes. 

Then LH checked on the womb and the tube that he had found on the scan. 

Everything seemed to be holding fine. “Do you ever feel any pressure in there?” Leatherhead asked. 

“Not really. Maybe a little. But nothing painful.” Don said. “And I can feel the baby’s movements now.” 

“That’s good. Just keep on monitoring yourself and the little one.” LH said. 

“We also keep an eye on him.” Mikey said. 

“Yes, you do, Mikey, but I’m the only one that would only know when something might officially be up.” Don said. “How does it look?” 

“Everything checks out fine, Donatello. Just keep on doing what you have been doing, but as the baby gets bigger, you may have to slow down, as the baby still isn’t ready to come out yet, I just don’t want to risk you going into labor too early or something bad happening.” LH explained. 

A new picture was printed for the family. Don was allowed to sit up and clean himself off. 

Then, Leo’s plastron was also checked to see how well the injuries were healing. It was doing well enough. But it was still too early for Leo to be doing intense workouts. For now, he still had to stick to coaching and light arm and leg exercises. 

Don had even been a little concerned at one time that maybe Beatrice might have tried to impregnate Leo too, but Leo was showing no signs of that, and Leo had said they hadn’t messed with anything else. They had only wanted to torture him with wounding his belly. 

They all went back to the farm with a new picture of Don, Jr. They were all excited more than ever after having seen the baby on ultrasound, heard its heart, seen it moving and such. Even Raph seemed to have finally accepted it. 

Don was only in the middle of his 5th month now, but Leatherhead promised that he would later be moving into the farmhouse too to help monitor the baby a lot more when Don’s due date month was approaching. The 8th month would probably be the best time.   
…………….

Another concern that was building up in the family, especially Mikey, was name picking. He so wanted to help name the baby. 

Don knew this child was going to be special. He thought it would need an extraordinary name. But he also wanted to know the meaning of the name too. One that would totally fit him or her. 

April went and bought a baby name book. But Don also did use his computer as well. 

Don told his brothers that they could help pick names and Don would go over them. They could be in any language, but also easy enough to pronounce. 

Leo and Mikey were the most thrilled about it. Raph didn’t get overly enthusiastic about it, but was willing to aid him too. He just wasn’t that creative with names. 

Don didn’t care if they used the baby name book or this computer when he wasn’t using it. They could even think up names, but he preferred they also look up the names they had in mind just to check the meanings. 

With all the name thinking going on, since April and Casey were married, Casey worried about all this kind of stuff happening when he and April might plan a family. Of course there would be all this fuss to worry about. But he would be glad he wouldn’t have to carry any babies. It was for the women. He marveled at how well Donny was doing it for being a male. 

But then, there were so many qualities that made Don the perfect turtle for this job of carrying this baby, not counting the male part. He was so calm and nurturing in nature, gentle, smart, level headed. He rarely ever got mad. His voice was nearly like that of a female’s. He preferred talking to fighting any day. He wasn’t always that crazy for ninja training, which this was also giving him the perfect time off from the most difficult part of exercising. But he still needed his exercise, just lighter versions. 

There were probably very high chances that Don’s baby was going to another genius like its dad too. Donny didn’t mind one bit. He would love to have someone else around home that he could teach things to, things that they might learn to understand his secret science talk. 

Both Leo and Raph were having their own plans on wanting to teach the kid when it was old enough to start training. 

Leonardo wanted to teach them how to meditate to relieve stress, know Japanese culture past and present, about weapons and how they might be made, how to stick up for himself or herself, and how to fight to defend them-self. He also wanted to be a good sensei, as he knew his own father was aging and knew he would be handing off the Sensei role to him soon enough, probably even after his plastron was healed for all he knew. 

Raphael had his own plans on really wanting to teach the kid how to fight when it was old enough. How to learn to like action and sports too. But Don did warn him about no swearing. Raph was worried about his brother, but he was going to make this work out too. Besides, his softer side might come out more around this little turtle. He just hoped Mikey wouldn’t turn them into a prankster like himself. 

Mikey also had his own plans on wanting to be his niece or nephew’s special uncle and friend. Teach them to read comics and enjoy cute kiddy movies. He knew Don wouldn’t want his child watching the more grown up shows till they were older, or not at all. He also wanted to be able to have someone around that would laugh at his jokes. He would also teach them how to cook. 

Master Splinter knew that each of his sons had their own thoughts of what would happen when Donatello’s baby got older. He wished his sons well in raising him or her. He knew he would probably also spoil his grandchild. He would offer advice and such as needed, but he would leave the main responsibility to his sons, especially Don. 

He would make sure to enjoy his grandchild for as long as he was around and wanted a role in their life too. He knew his son’s child was a miracle in itself, even of how scary it had come about and how scary the birth situation was going to be later on. But he knew this baby was mostly a miracle because he or she was a future generation, at least just a start. Their small family needed new life in it. And if they were lucky, some day too, his other three sons could also become parents as well, he hoped. 

With April, fussing over this baby coming was making her feel like wanting to start her own family as well. She knew Don’s baby would need some friends around their own age to play and train with too. But she would probably want to wait until after Don’s baby was born to think about having her own. She was one of his two doctors and didn’t need distractions from looking after Don right now because even though he seemed to be doing well right now, problems could arise any time. His pregnancy was a very high risk one because it just wasn’t natural. 

For Don, he was happy that his family was supporting him through this hard and happy time. Just thinking about the baby being born was a little bit scary. Sure, he knew it was a blessing to him and the family, though when it first started out, it had felt like a mistake that shouldn’t have happened. In normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have played out at all. 

Just carrying this baby alone had quite a few risks. What if something could go all wrong? What if enemies found out about it? Though if they remained up here for the rest of his pregnancy, there would be a high unlikeness that would happen. But the worst one to find out would be Bishop, other than the Foot. Leo and Mikey had been caught by them, but had said nothing about it. 

Donatello really hoped he was going to be okay and carry this baby to full term without any complications. If something went wrong, it could cost him and the baby dearly and they couldn’t go to a hospital for help. It would even be hard on his family if they lost him or the baby. They were all looking forward to this miracle baby coming into their lives as well as his. 

Don rubbed his belly, feeling his baby move underneath his plastron and hand. He smiled. Now that he had fully accepted this challenge, he was going to make sure he fulfilled it. And he was happy because he wasn’t alone. He had the love and support of his family to back him up, and when the baby was born, they too would help him take care of him or her. 

He often imagined what his son or daughter looked like. He knew that it was a turtle, but did he or she look like him? He wasn’t sure if he wanted one sex or another, just as long as it was healthy. 

Mikey was really wanting a nephew. Leo and Raph knew that they just had to accept what they got. Though they too were only familiar with boy behavior more. Until April and a few other girls came into their lives, none of them had been familiar with female behavior. So if the baby was a girl, they would try to learn how to take care of her the best they could. And having a female around would be certainly interesting.


	18. Chapter 18

Even though it was still only in the middle of the pregnancy, one day, April took Don’s family aside when he was busy working out on the truck. 

“It does seem like the birth is still a ways off, and you guys all know that Donny is going to need supplies for his baby. I suggest we have a baby shower for him. It would be a way to get him what he needs for the baby.” April suggested. 

“We’re not that familiar with baby showers, April. We get that Donny needs supplies for the baby, but what happens at baby showers?” Leo asked. 

“And of course, many men usually don’t come to them, but what happens at them is there is food supplied, special snacks I mean, some games are played, then there are the gifts. If you all know what you may like to make or give to him, we need the time to prepare them. His baby shower should be given a little closer to when the baby is nearly due.” She explained. “But given that you are all excited about the baby coming, and there are a limited number of women in your guys’ lives, that’s why we all would be better off giving him the baby shower.” 

“I’m sure Donny will really like that, April.” Leo said. 

“I would love to give Don stuff for my new nephew!” Mikey said excitedly. 

“Not so loud, Mikey!” Raph said. 

“Sorry.” Mike lowered his voice. 

“Ok, so who wants to do what?” April asked. 

They got to talking about who would do the most important tasks, like getting a cradle or crib was the most important. Blankets, books, toys, some clothes for warmth and disguise if needed, some lullaby tapes and discs, they all had to be decided on. 

Next came deciding on what kind of snacks to be had at the shower. Should it be more favored toward healthy things, or sweet foods? Course it could be both. 

Then came the games. The guys would need to study about nursery rhymes and baby animals for the games for a couple of them. 

They decided that maybe the best time to have the shower would be in March, in Don’s 7th month. In case the baby came any earlier and they could have supplies, especially the bedding and cradle all ready to go. 

Mikey had to ask, “When the baby comes, what’s it going to be eating? Milk or baby food?”

“It’s a good question, Mikey. We don’t know yet. We’ll find out when the time comes.” April said. 

Yeah, it was a good question. Don may be having the baby, and being a turtle, there was no way the baby could nurse, but it could be fed formula milk. But they would try to see what the baby preferred. It was possible baby food to could be fed to it as well. 

“Are there certain colors that should be given to represent a boy or girl at the shower, or what should we get him?” Leo asked. 

“Well, blue always says it’s a boy, and pink says a girl. We could think of other colors that say either. Like green, or yellow. Or we could even just use Don’s mask color to represent his baby as his, not mattering what the sex is.” April offered some suggestions. 

“How about different shades of green?” Mikey offered. “After all, we’re all green in different shades.” 

“Or how about the green and purple?” Raph said. “Says its Don’s.” 

Casey was there with them, but just hadn’t had much to say. But he added his say, “What Raph said.” 

“Leo and Master Splinter, what do you like?” She asked. 

Leo let out a sigh. “Balloons could be pink and blue. And green and purple. Bedding material could be yellow.” 

“That seems reasonable, my son.” Splinter agreed. 

“I’ll think about all the suggestions you gave and get back to you.” April said. “But about the bed for the baby, do you guys want to build it, or have it bought? It might be a little more difficult to build it and keep it secret out here when Don goes in the barn a lot.” 

“Maybe we could keep it at Leatherhead’s. We get the supplies and take it over there. We go over there and help him build one. We want to make some good contribution to the baby’s wellbeing too.” Leo said. 

“And who wants to help make it?” 

“We will!” Leo, Raph, and Casey all said together. 

“You can all help build the cradle or crib.” April giggled. 

They all continued to do who would do what. This was to be a big surprise in a couple of months.   
…………..

Don had been working on the engine of the Battle Shell and he crawled out of the engine after finishing what he started. He suddenly had a pain in his back. 

He moaned in pain. “That hurts!” He had a hand on his shell. “I really hope nothing is wrong.” 

He went inside to prepare for the evening meal. His family seemed to be busy at the moment and didn’t say much to him other than “Hi.” 

He went to the bathroom, washed his hands, took a shower, then went to his room and laid down for a little bit. He had been on his feet all day. It was a little hard to put bend in his belly anymore, but he had to put a pillow under his ankles. 

After reading up a little while ago, Don figured he was around his 23rd week now. He was soon going to be entering his 6th month! Why did the 9th month have to feel so far away? 

Don started smelling the goodness of supper being started. He didn’t know how long it was going to be before it was ready. He was bored at the moment, and hungry. Just to pass the time, Don turned to his left side and decided to rest his eyes just till dinner was ready. 

When dinner was ready a little bit later, Mikey called Don down for dinner, but he didn’t come down. When it took too long waiting on him and no reply, Leo went upstairs to tell him dinner was done, and when he got no reply, he opened Don’s door, finding his pregnant brother asleep on his bed. 

Leo walked over to Don’s sleeping form. He looked so peaceful, he hated to wake him up. But he did know that Don needed the extra rest. The baby kept him up a good portion of the night as it was. 

Leo decided against waking Donny up. They would save him some dinner. He needed his nap after having been up most of the night and all day fixing the truck. 

When he came back down, Raph asked, “Is Donny alright?” 

“Yes, he’s fine. He’s asleep. He needs his rest. We just need to make sure to save him some.” Leo replied.   
……………

When Don woke up a few hours later, he saw that it was dark in his bedroom. He turned over to look at his clock on the bedside dresser and saw that it said 9:22. 

Don shot up in bed, aggravating his back and stomach a little. He knew he needed to take it easy when he got up. 

He got up slowly when the pain calmed down with some deep breathing. He came out of his room and went down to the kitchen. No one was in there, save Leo, reading the newspaper. 

Leo heard his steps and looked up. “You feeling ok, Don?” 

“Yeah, just tired from sleeping and hungry. Why didn’t anyone wake me for dinner?” 

“We didn’t know you wanted us to. But Don, given you were up most of the night last night and working on the truck all day, you needed the sleep. We saved you some food.” Leo said. 

“Thanks.” 

Don went to the fridge and got the leftovers out. He put it into a proper microwave bowl and heated it up in the microwave. A few minutes later, he took it out and then Don settled down at the table to eat the food. 

“Hmm! This is real good!” Don felt the delicious food on his taste buds.

“Yeah, we all thought so too.” Leo said. “And Donny, with the way the baby might be stressing your body a lot more, maybe you shouldn’t work so hard.” 

“Leo, I can’t just lay around. That’s not who I am. I’m just working on projects. I’m not running around like crazy.” 

“It’s one thing to do some exercises, but just don’t work too much. Keep it to a set number of hours in the day. Rest when you feel like it, but as the baby gets bigger, you’re going to be resting a lot more.” Leo said. 

“I figure, and that’s why I need to get as much done now as I can before all the weight stops me from doing too much.” Don said. 

They had a light conversation as Don continued to eat his meal for the night.   
…………….

In times when Don wasn’t needed to fix something, he tried to let himself relax enough to play video games with Mikey or Raph. It was usually a thing of last resort. 

Sometimes the baby would jump, kick, or punch Don in the stomach when the two brothers who had loud voices started screaming about. If it happened too much, Don would decide to leave. Those movements were a little too hard on him. 

April rented some videos about learning what to do with how to care more for a pregnant loved one. Leo was already being a coach with breathing techniques, so there didn’t seem to be a need for Lamaze. And Don was going to be having a C-section anyway. 

Another good way to help the mom to relax, especially right before bed, was doing some massage, to relax some sore and tight muscles. She knew Donny had to have plenty of those. 

One night, she was willing to ask him if he wanted a massage to help alleviate sore muscles. 

Don said she was welcome to give him one. 

She massaged his arms, legs, neck and shoulders, she gave him a shell rub, and with a little coaxing, he let her do one on his belly too. 

For Don, when April was doing the belly massage, he could just seem to feel like the baby was relaxing right into the feel of her hands. It definitely even started to put him to sleep. He was well relaxed by this time. 

April avoided his feet, as she didn’t want to trigger a possible pressure point that might cause problems. Don may not be female, but she didn’t want to risk it anyway. 

Don had a peaceful sleep that night. 

It had been so good that Don asked if she would massage him a lot more before bed. 

“I’d be happy too when I’m here. But when I need to go home, maybe you can have one of your brothers do it for you.” She suggested. “Leo has good hands and has the patience to do it. I can teach him how.” 

“That would be great.” Don said. 

Leo was more than happy to oblige. It made him feel needed and more than happy to fulfill something to make his brother happy to make him more comfortable. 

Leo watched what April did and then she would let him try. Don was lying comfortably with a pillow between his legs. That helped a lot. 

Donny was asleep by the time April had finished teaching Leo how to do the massage. 

“Does he ever still have bad dreams anymore?” She asked. 

“I don’t know. He might, but he never says.” Leo said.

“Well, the massage should help to lull him to sleep more easily and maybe he can maintain a more peaceful sleep.” April said. “Just like I said, avoid his feet. I know you know how to use pressure points, but there are those in the feet and just don’t want to possibly send him into labor too early. It might not do that, but there’s no sense risking it.” 

“Yeah.” He agreed.   
………………

The next day, they began to want to get things started for the baby shower. Leo, Raph, and Casey said they needed to head back to the city for some supplies. Raph needed some patrolling time, as Casey would go with him, as Leo couldn’t patrol for a little while yet. 

In truth, they were heading back to start making the bed for Don’s baby. It would take a few days. Leo and Raph would stay at Casey’s or Leatherhead’s. 

April, Splinter, and Mikey stayed behind to help look after Donny. Splinter took over as Don’s breathing coach. 

When they weren’t busy doing stuff with Don, the others were making sure to be doing what they were making for Don too. 

Donny still kept a distance from his family throughout the days to do his science stuff, read about the baby, and fix things if needed. But he knew there would be a ton of work to do when he was at home. He was missing the lair as well as the others.   
…………..

Leatherhead was happy to let Don’s brothers keep the baby’s new bed here, but first it had to be built. The croc and turtles went wood shopping. Leo just couldn’t carry a lot with his plastron still healing. But he was allowed to help with this.   
……………

April and Mikey were working on making some blankets for the baby. But April did go out and buy some baby materials too. Of course they couldn’t be seen doing what they were doing, or Don might get suspicious. 

Splinter would help where needed, but he still mainly just meditated a lot.   
…………

Casey helped Raph on patrols, but he also had to go back to work too. And he was more than willing to get the supplies as needed. 

It was a lot of work preparing for one little baby turtle.


	19. Chapter 19

While the others were gone, Don and Mikey began to feel restless. If they could go back to the city, why couldn’t they? 

Don went to April one day, “April, as long and Leo and Raph are gone, it’s making me and Mikey real restless that we can’t be back home too. Can’t we go home now?” 

“It’s just not worth risking an enemy finding out about the baby, Donny.” April said. 

“Look, I promise I won’t go outside. I miss my lab and the lair. I’m just ready to go home. I still need to finish working on the security system at home too, and Leo seems to be doing well enough to go home too and he’s there right now.” 

April didn’t want Don to be stressed out. “Ok. We’ll get packed up and go home. And besides, you have another checkup coming up anyway.” 

“I know. It’ll let me visit Leatherhead as I need to.”

“But there’s just one condition. Donny, you have to let Leo know you’re going to Leatherhead’s.” 

“I always do.” 

Don went to go tell Mikey and Splinter that they were heading home. April called Leo up and asked how he and Raph were doing on building the baby’s cradle. 

“It’s almost done, April. Why do you ask?” Leo asked. 

“Don wants to come home. He and the others are restless.” She replied. 

“I suppose we had been up there long enough, but he’s not going topside.” 

“Yes, there will be some limitations, but he needs more to do. He can come home for the time being.” She said. 

Leo was agreeable to that, but now he just knew that he and Raph had to up their speed on building the cradle.   
……………..

Master Splinter had been a little reluctant to let his pregnant son decide they were going home, but he knew how moody he could be right now too. And with running out of things to do to satisfy his mind, maybe it was a good idea to come home for now. 

Mikey was thrilled when Don told him to pack up. He immediately began to pack his comics and other beloved things back up again. And he had to keep his baby shower present hidden too. 

Don packed his stuff carefully, especially his computer. 

Everyone had gifts they were trying to hide from Don. It had been a few weeks already since they had started planning it. Though it had only been a week since Leo, Raph, and Casey had gone back to New York.

April drove them home that night in her van. Don had the middle seat to lay down and get some rest on the trip back. His hands laid on his swollen stomach. Mikey and Splinter were in the very back. Splinter made sure that Mikey was not to disturb his brother. 

Once they got back to the city, April found the warehouse and parked her van inside it. She saw the Battle Shell in there, showing the others were down below. But if they were home was another matter. They might be over at Leatherhead’s. 

April gently awoke Don and they all began to unpack the van. Don could still carry light stuff while the others handled the heavier stuff. 

They were all beyond thrilled to be home again. Don went immediately to his lab to make sure it was still intact and take his stuff there. But Splinter told him that he should go to his room after putting his stuff in there so he could get some more rest. 

The hormones and ever growing weight of the baby made Don tire easily at times. He was still tired from his trip home. He did just put his bag down and headed for his room to hopefully, get a good day’s rest. 

Mikey was also ready for some sleep. He would keep his gift in his room. 

Splinter called Leo and Raph home to get some sleep. They said the cradle was about done, and they would leave it at their croc friend’s until the day of the baby shower. It was covered up with a big sheet over it so Don wouldn’t see it when he went over there for his next exam.   
…………….

They were all glad to be home again. Life settled back into what it was before they left for the farmhouse. Though Leo and Don couldn’t train in the big training department. 

Leo and Don still did the breathing exercises and they went for walks in the sewer to keep in shape. 

Raph and Mikey could only train against each other. They did want to go out and patrol, but Leo was still cautious right now about letting them go out at all. 

“If you need to go out and expend some energy, do it in the sewers for now.” Leo ordered. He knew his red and orange banded brothers often had more energy than he and Don did. “We really don’t need anymore of us captured and tortured right now.” 

Don was worried if his more energetic brothers might end up at some point disobeying Leo’s orders. He backed him up. 

“Please guys. Do what he says. I really don’t want to have to treat you for the same thing that Leo had to go through just because Beatrice was wanting me back. Or worse injuries. I need all of you to help me out right now.”

“Don’t worry, Donny. We’ll be here for you.” Mikey said. 

“We just have to get out and get this restless feeling worked out of us.” Raph added. 

“I just hope the Foot doesn’t come down here looking for us again.” Don said. 

“They might have after we left, but we were gone for quite awhile and never found a trace of us. And we haven’t been seen on the streets for some time. It should buy us some time while I finish recovering and you finish carrying your baby, Donny. Then of course, you’ll be having to recover from surgery.” Leo said. 

Don knew he wouldn’t be joining his brothers on patrols or missions any time soon. It was too dangerous for him to be seen with them. And Leo was getting close enough to a full recovery. Or he wouldn’t be done recovering until just shortly before the baby was due, but he was well enough to be on his feet.

Raph and Mikey went for their run and promised they would stay below ground and report anything they saw if it was important.   
……………..

Don went to another exam and Leatherhead’s a few days later. 

From the size of the baby now, it looked to be about around 27 weeks now. 

“But how are things going at home for you?” LH asked. 

“I feel fine, though the others tell me that I’ve gotten a little more wobbly in my walking and I sometimes forget things. I don’t know, I can’t help it. And I usually have an excellent memory.” Don said. 

“How are you sleeping?” 

“Pretty good. Leo or April give me some massage every night to help me fall asleep easier. And I keep a pillow in between my legs. Sometimes though, the baby still does wake me up when they decide to get fussy.” 

“Well, due to the size of your stomach now, I wouldn’t recommend any heavy lifting or going underneath your truck and all that.” LH said. 

“I haven’t been able to go under the truck for a little while now. Raph has been helping me out with that if I need repairs done on something mechanical.”

“Well, you are doing well in taking care of yourself and the baby. Pretty soon, it will be time for me to move in and just help monitor you every week, but it’s still a little ways off yet.” 

“I know.”

Donny went home with a new sonogram to show the others.   
……………

Don’s diet was mainly a lot of healthy food. Leo monitored what he was supposed to be eating quite a bit. Sometimes Don thought he got carried away, like he was an overprotective father. 

Don had cravings for a lot of sweet things, like ice cream or cookies, but the family just gave him stuff to eat that was more healthy, like an apple or celery. But they would let him have it every now and again. At least only once a week. Don was glad he wasn’t denied the foods he craved altogether. 

The family just had a special dinner night where they were going to have those for dessert. 

Don clarified that as long as the baby was healthy, he could eat just about anything he wanted. But just limiting the caffeine. But he hadn’t had coffee in a long time already and had lost the taste for it anyway. But even caffeinated soda had to be limited. And he was to mainly drink water or milk. 

Don did get the cravings for milk too. Probably the baby was demanding it for the calcium it required, and Don’s body needed it too. And other fruit drinks were fine as well.

But also sometimes, no matter what food he ate, Don would also end up getting heartburn and it wasn’t fun. It made him miserable to have to tough it out, as he wasn’t sure if there was anything he could take to soothe it. 

He got online and checked out some videos to see how to handle heartburn in pregnancy. 

One thing he found was raw apple cider vinegar helped when mixed with water every day. Just a little bit, not much. Taking some digestive enzymes. And he was taking prenatal vitamins too. Then taking some probiotics could help as well as activated charcoal. 

Another video he saw where there was a pressing on the stomach itself and pushing down, well, Don knew it was going to be impossible to do that on him with his plastron in the way. But he would give those other things a try. April just had to buy some. 

Most foods to avoid were mostly pizza, one of his favorite foods, hamburgers, and most other fast food types. But Leo kept his diet to more healthy foods anyway. And he just needed to eat smaller meals throughout the day or night.   
……………..

Don found himself having to visit the bathroom a lot more now. The baby would never be able to descend into his pelvis, but it obviously could still press on his bladder too much. 

The guys sure hated seeing him having to go through that. They were glad they weren’t going through it. 

And even though Don and Leo were still doing breathing exercises together, Don’s breathing was heavier now, and the baby felt like he or she was kicking and stretching up into his ribcage. And it was obviously pushing on his other internal organs. 

Don read that his heart and lungs might be pumping a lot more blood just to compensate with the baby. And it was also making him keep warmer. It might be possible inside the artificial womb that there was also cushioning going on too. 

When he saw in words of the baby ’getting stuck,’ it didn’t alarm him too much, as he knew he was having a C-section anyway. But just thinking about the surgery as the due date month was approaching was a bit nerve wracking for him. 

The due date had been settled on for around May 16th to have the surgery. It made him nervous to think about it. 

And another thing that he often thought about was that he saw he had nothing for the baby for when it arrived. He knew that the family needed to start getting prepared. In only about 2 and half months, Little Don would be here! 

Sometimes, Don would have dreams that the baby was already born and he didn’t know what to do to take care of it. What did it want half the time? Was he going to be a good father? He just felt so scared about this the closer the due date got.


	20. Chapter 20

The others did seem to be a little sneaky at times these days. They always had something to occupy themselves somewhere else. Don was busy in his lab too as well, but when he did come out for food, bathroom, or wanting to talk to his family, they all were standoffish toward him, though they tried not to be. Don wondered what was going on. 

It had been 4 weeks since the others had started planning the baby shower, and now everything was ready to go. 

Don’s stomach had gotten bigger in that amount of time. 

The baby’s movements had gotten a little bit more painful at times. A good kick in the stomach or near the chest cavity could seem to just knock the wind out of him. But overall, the baby was quite active. Mikey loved to feel it move the most. 

But along with the movements meant a bit more lack of sleep, no matter how much Don tried. He was now starting to stay off his feet more and sleep a bit more in the times when his family was normally up doing activities. 

One day, it was time for the surprise baby shower. Raph and Mikey had gone over to April’s to help get things ready over there and take the gifts over there. Don was asleep when they were moving it all out. 

Leo and Splinter stayed behind and would escort Donny over to April’s when he woke up. There was no set time. Just when Don was up, but they were sure it wouldn’t be until afternoon. Leo would send a signal on his phone when they were on their way. 

Don did indeed wake up in the afternoon. He was still a little drowsy. He knew he had missed lunch, but he was headed to get some food now and try to stay up and work for awhile. 

Leo and Splinter were watching TV. Splinter had heard him leave his room before his son did. “He’s awake.” The wise rat whispered. 

Leo looked over and saw Don headed for the kitchen. “Hey, Don.” Leo called over at him. 

Donny looked over. “Hey, Leo. What’s up?” 

“Not much. What are you doing?” 

“Just going to get a bite to eat for me and my little one.” Don said tiredly. 

“Wait up there a second, Donny.” Leo said as he got up. 

“Huh?” 

“April called and she said she really needs your help fixing something when you got up. It can’t wait. She already has the supplies, but you are better at fixing it. So do you think you can go over to help her out?” 

“Can’t it wait until after I eat?” 

“No, my son. It is most urgent.” Splinter said. 

“The baby’s going to drive me crazy if I don’t eat soon.” Don said. 

“You can eat over there while fixing what she needs you to fix.” Leo said. 

Leo and Splinter gave each other winks when Don was following them to the car, the Turtle Taxi. 

As much as Don loved the prize car he had designed, he just couldn’t sit behind the wheel with his stomach so big now. Leo drove them over in the sewers. It was just too far a walk for Don now. He had also hit the button to alert the others over at April’s. 

Don thought this was ridiculous. Sure his friends and family still required him to fix things, but he felt that this thing that needed fixing could have at least waited until after he had grabbed some food. He sat in the back seat. And he didn’t get why Splinter had to come too, though it was one thing for Leo to take him over. 

They stopped at a certain spot close to the exit that would lead to April’s, and they got out and went up from the basement. Don went up first with Leo behind him in case he slipped, as his balance could become quite uncoordinated right now at times. 

They came up in the hallway and then headed upstairs that way. Don took hold of the railing so he thought Leo wouldn’t have to monitor his every single step. 

Don didn’t mind if his family helped him out with some things in his condition, but there were still some things that he knew he could still do by himself. Just because his stomach was a little bigger didn’t mean he was some fragile flower. But his emotions could be more fragile than his body. 

Soon, they were outside April’s door on the second floor. Leo knocked. 

“Come in.” They heard. 

There was a scrambling about in the room, and then Leo let Don enter first. 

Don opened the door, and then there were the lights off. He flicked them on and out of nowhere, there was a big “Surprise!” His brothers and April jumped up from hiding places, and Leo and Splinter had joined in the saying. 

Don was so shocked, he felt he was going to jump out of his shell. “What’s… going on?” 

“Don’t ya see up there, Bro?” Raph asked, pointing.

Don looked up and saw Baby Shower printed on a banner across April’s high wall in big purple letters. And he saw that there were green, yellow, blue, pink, and purple balloons everywhere. 

“A baby shower?” Don asked, now getting over his shock. 

“Yeah. We thought this would be a great surprise for you. After all, you’re going to need supplies for Little Donny.” Leo said with a smile. 

“So what do we do first?” Don asked. 

“First, you are the guest of honor. You get to sit here in the chair, Donny.” April said. 

Don walked over and sat down in the chair. 

Then Mikey proceeded to bring Don some healthy food snacks. “You are probably hungry, right?” He said. 

“Yes, I was. So there was really nothing that needed fixing?” 

“No. Not this time. Just had to come up with a convincing story to make you come over right away.” April said. 

Everyone else fixed up what they wanted in their food. Mikey had brought along some of his own junk food so he wouldn’t have to eat just the healthy foods. 

Then after that, there were some special treats for dessert. Cake and ice cream! 

The cake was vanilla with not so much sugar in it, and the frosting wasn’t rich either. The ice cream was just plain vanilla.

No matter what it was, Don just enjoyed having some sweets he had been craving for a change. 

Then after eating, it was time for some games. There were some baby animal name games, trying to guess with toilet paper how big Don’s middle was, etc. Then it was time for the gifts. 

There was a big gift brought out from April’s bedroom all wrapped up. And there were many little wrapped up gifts in bags or a box. 

Don wanted to know most of all what was in that big wrapping. Raph brought it over to him. 

Don ripped it open and sat there with a big open mouth. It was a cradle for the baby! 

“Where did this come from?” Don asked. 

“Leo and I built it over at Leatherhead’s when we came back to the city a little earlier than you did.” Raph said. 

“Thank you so much!” Don said happily, tears in his eyes. “I was going to get around to building one, but just have been so tired or busy lately with other things to even get started. Now I see I don’t need to make one. Where is Leatherhead anyway?” 

“He gave us a gift for you, but he felt that my apartment was too small for him to fit in without causing damage.” April said. 

Don understood. Then he went to opening more presents. 

He got a hand made blanket from Mikey and April. Some store bought clothes from April. Splinter had changed his mind and made some little booties for the baby as well. They were just a green color. Casey wasn’t there, but he had gone out and bought a baby care book. Leatherhead had given Don a website that was fantastic for Don to continue his search for a name for the baby, and had made a playpen for it too. Mikey had gone out in disguise and gotten some lullaby discs and a radio to play them. And April had gotten some other books, yellow bedding, and toys too. 

There were so many special gifts from such a small family. They made Donatello feel more than special right now. There might still be a thing or two missing, like a changing table, but that would get built too before the little one was born. Don wanted to build it, but then, April warned him it was probably better if he stayed away from loud noises. It might upset the baby. 

Raph said he and Leo would make it too. And for Leo, building this stuff did make him feel like he had also had a sense of worth. He would do anything for Don and the new baby. 

Don wanted to be able to build it himself, but fine. His brothers could build it, as long as he could at least supervise it to make sure it got the right shaping. Leo and Raph agreed to that. 

Once everything was settled down, they all sat down to watch a movie or two together. The name of the movie was ‘Nine Months.’ 

It was mostly a hilarious movie. But Don could easily relate to the father to be guy. He had been scared out of his wits about his baby coming. Don had been too at first. He still was. But he was glad no one had rejected his baby, though they had all been in shock when they found out about it. But when it got to the end of the movie, Donny hoped the ending of his pregnancy wouldn’t be so crazy. At least his doctors weren’t so amateur in their ways, but this experience with him was also a first for them too. 

By the time it was over, everyone felt wore out and just wanted to go home. Don was ready for another nap. All the others packed up the gifts into the Battle Shell and Turtle Taxi. 

Leo drove the taxi home while Raph drove the truck home. Once there, Leo helped Don out of the car and to the living room couch. He went to sleep while the others brought the gifts in. They knew Don would want to be close to the baby after it was born. 

While he was asleep, his family got to work on making a part of Don’s room like a nursery. And aside from the changing table, there would also need to be a rocking chair as well. Casey would go out and get that. 

When Donny awoke a few hours later just in time for supper, the others showed him to his room first to show him what they had done. 

The pregnant turtle couldn’t believe how well they did with one side of his bed. The cradle was next to it, books were on some shelves, and so were the discs and radio. The bedding was in the cradle. It was all so pretty and cute looking. 

Don’s eyes welled with tears. 

The others saw this and thought something was wrong. 

“What’s wrong, Don? Did we do something wrong?” Mikey asked. 

“No, Mikey. What you guys did was just wonderful! Thank you!” He couldn’t help but let the tears fall, he was so happy. 

“You’re very welcome, Donny.” Leo said. “Now we should go get some dinner.” 

They all went to the kitchen knowing that Don loved what they had done to just have a place for his baby when it came. 

As far along as he had come in this whole ordeal, he felt blessed and really happy right now in the company of his family and friends, compared to how it had started out months ago; being scared, lonely, and miserable at the hands of his kidnappers.


	21. Chapter 21

As Donny was progressing further along in his pregnancy, he had been feeling a little bit more clumsy at times. He couldn’t help that his walking had become more of a waddle instead. And he definitely couldn’t bend down to pick things up if he dropped something on the floor. 

One day, Don was in the kitchen by himself just having some lunch. He finished up and set his plate in the sink, and then was going to go to the lab to try to fix some more projects. 

But in one moment, a wave of dizziness went through his head and he closed his eyes and he held his head, and in that moment, a clumsy moment happened too. 

One of his feet made a bad step, then suddenly, the next thing he knew, Don had hit the bottom of his stomach into the table real hard, causing a loud cry of pain to erupt from his throat. He fell to the floor. 

The others heard Don’s cry and came running into the kitchen. They saw him on the floor, holding his stomach. 

They charged forward. “Don, what happened?” Leo asked in a panicked tone. 

“Are you ok?” Mikey asked. 

Don was trying to breathe and find the strength to talk. 

“Please, Donny, talk to us.” Raph urged. 

“Ugh! I… had a… clumsy moment… and dizziness… and slammed… my stomach into… the table!” Don rasped out. “My baby! I hope… its okay.” 

“We need to get you to Leatherhead’s to make sure.” Leo said. Then he and Raph proceeded to help Don to his feet. 

Don still clutched his belly. Clearly, he was in pain too. It hurt to walk. 

Raph drove the truck to Leatherhead’s. Don was in the back with Leo. “Just breathe how we practiced, Donny.” He tried to encourage the special breathing. Splinter just tried to help Leo out with Don as well. 

They had called ahead and their croc friend knew they were coming. 

Don was helped out of the truck when they got to LH’s lair. He had his breathing a little more under control now, but there was still some discomfort. 

Leatherhead had Don lay down on his scanning machine so he could have a better look inside Don’s body. The ultrasound might not reveal anything too fast. 

The others all waited anxiously as LH began the scanning process. 

Don was nervous while this was happening, but he didn’t move. The laser finally passed over his head last. 

While Don was getting ready to get up, Leatherhead looked on his computer at the baby, and could see nothing out of the ordinary. The heart was going, if a little fast, but was fine. 

Don came over and had a look too. 

“You see… the baby’s just fine, Donatello. It might be a little stressed, but it’s still alive and well.” LH said. 

Don gave a big sigh of relief. 

They all went home with good news. But little did they know that things were going to be getting iffy very shortly.   
………………

Within a week and a half after Don’s table incident, Donny began to suddenly feel ill. He knew he was eating plenty of healthy food and drinking healthy liquids, so why was this happening? 

Dizziness came on a good deal, and he felt sick to his stomach. Don found himself going to the bathroom to end up throwing up again. This wasn’t good. 

When his family found out, they were really worried. Maybe he had caught a bad bug? But after a few days of this, they knew it wasn’t just a bug. 

Don’s temperature was taken and it showed he didn’t have a fever. Though his body temperature was a little higher due to his increased blood supply pumping harder. Though at the moment, they weren’t sure if it was a fever since none of them were familiar with being pregnant and fevers in that way. 

In the end, they took him back to Leatherhead’s again. Splinter stayed home this time. 

The big croc took some blood from Don to make sure he was clean of viruses. He was sure the baby had nothing to do with this. But he did a scan on him anyway to just make sure Junior was ok too. 

The guys wondered why he would be sick when spring warmth was starting to return now. It was usually reserved for winter a lot more. 

As LH looked at this new scan, he saw something in the picture that wasn’t supposed to be there. “Uh, Donatello, I have something here.” 

“Is it bad, Leatherhead?” Don asked worriedly. 

“This is a concern, yes, my friend.” 

“What is it, Leatherhead?” Leo asked. 

Don came over to see what it was. He and LH looked on the computer and Don saw the problem. His eyes lit up when he saw the problem. 

“What’s going on, guys?” Mikey asked. 

“Guys, there is a problem.” Don turned to them. 

“What is it? Is the baby ok?” Leo demanded. 

“Yes, it’s fine. But it seems I have a new embryo growing inside me now.” Don said nervously. 

The others all stood there with widened eyes. “What?” 

“The way I figure it, the tube that I have seen in Donatello’s lower abdomen is responsible for the first baby, but when he had that accident two weeks ago, the hit on the table must have made the tube release a new set of DNA to start a new baby growing.” Leatherhead explained what he thought had happened. “Donatello, did you feel sick at all when the first baby started growing?” 

“Yes. I was sick all the time. Couldn’t keep food down. Dizzy, mood swings, nausea, headaches, the works.” Don said. “I know you guys didn’t get to see me at that time though.” 

“So what are we going to do?” Raph asked in concern. 

“There’s nothing we can do, Raph. It’s going to grow.” Don replied. 

“And what about when it’s time for the older baby to be born? Are you going to have the new baby taken out too?” 

“This special tube apparently is the lifeline to these babies. If it gets taken out, the second baby might die. But there might be a chance to deliver the first one without problems and let the second one stay in there, unless you don’t want the second one, Donatello.” LH declared. 

Don was still in high shock as much as his family. “I… I don’t know what to think right now, Leatherhead. First getting pregnant by the kidnappers was scary enough, and I thought I was nearing the end of my pregnancy, only to find out that I may be having another? I don’t know what to do.” 

He had to sit down. His brothers saw that and guided him to a chair before he might take another spill. 

“But how’s this second baby to make it in the next few weeks with the older baby already taking up so much room inside me?” Don asked. “It might not survive at all beyond a few weeks.” 

“It’s hard to say for certain, my friend. With this going on, perhaps it is now time that I move in with you and help to keep watch over you in case anything happens at all.” LH said. 

“Yes. That would help us feel better too, Leatherhead. You are welcome to stay with us.” Leo said. 

The turtles and croc packed up all necessary equipment and moved it to the turtles’ lair. 

And as for Don, he was going to be put on a lot of strict bed rest for nearly the remainder of his pregnancy. With this new baby, his health was now compromised. He was otherwise healthy, but he was suffering the effects of morning sickness all over again. 

Master Splinter was also in shock when he found out what was going on with Donatello. A second grandchild. But would this one even live? 

April and Casey were also told, and couldn’t believe it either. This was a very hair raising experience.   
…………….

Don thought about at least one benefit that would happen when having this second baby. It could provide the first one with a playmate. Why should it have to be alone? 

He had a lot of time to think while he was in bed. Don hated this; being on bed rest. He wasn’t to be up except for the most important things. Food, bathroom, and an occasional fixing of something was allowed.

But he wasn’t completely bored. He could also look things up on the Internet and watch some videos that way. 

“Oh!” Don grunted from a painful kick in the right side of his stomach. He rubbed it. 

“Can you please take it easy on me, Little One?” Don asked, trying to soothe his apparent, uncomfortable older child. The second baby must have been making the first one uncomfortable, but it was so tiny, how could it? 

Donny loved looking over at the nursery close to his bed. There was only one cradle, but he figured there was going to have to be another one before it was time for the birth. He knew two would be a bit of a challenge to raise, but with his family’s help, they could make this work. They had to. 

Unknown to him, in his lab, his brothers and Leatherhead were making those projects they said they were going to make. The changing table, and now that the new baby was discovered, they were building a second cradle as well. Casey had gone out and bought a new rocking chair that was now in his room in the far corner.

The second cradle was finished first and it was another surprise that Don’s brothers gave to him. But the changing table was almost done. 

Donny liked how the new cradle looked too. Now they just needed some more new bedding for it.   
……………..

Leo was examined by Don and Leatherhead and they deemed him well enough now that he could go without bandages on his middle now. 

Leo was happy to hear it. He could begin training again, but gently for right now. He had missed his workouts, but he would still be helping Don out with breathing workouts too. And he was sure that Raph and Mikey were more than wanting to spar against him again. And he wanted to spar against them. 

But Don still wouldn’t be training for some time yet. There were still about 5 or 6 weeks left of the pregnancy. For Don, it couldn’t be here fast enough, but it was approaching fast. 

He was eating several small meals throughout the day as they were brought to him. But he could eat at the table at dinner. They just thought it better that he remain off his feet as much as possible. But when he got too restless to stay in bed, he was allowed to move about the lair, but it might have been better to avoid stairs. 

Don had begun to count baby kicks within an hour to monitor the first baby, and it was kicking up quite a storm. But sometimes it did upset his stomach. But the second baby was causing all the sickness symptoms more than anything. How could a baby so small make you feel so sick? 

The others did what they could to try to keep Don happy and comfortable. Massaging his body throughout the day, feeding him, talking to him. But until the babies came, there was nothing they could do to make the discomforts go away entirely. 

Leatherhead checked on Don weekly now. Surprisingly, this new little baby was growing faster than what its sibling was at this age apparently. It looked to be about a month along now. But it was still a very high chance that it may not make it, being so far behind in its creation. 

It could be possible to leave this baby in Don’s belly while the first one could be born when its time was here. Then let that one grow too and then get it out too. Because it was so weird, but the tube had created two different wombs, one for each baby. 

But they just hoped that this tube was not a tracking device. If it was, they would be in for a world of trouble. But Beatrice had never said it was a tracker. Not to him or his brothers.   
…………..

Since Leo’s stomach was now well enough for him to begin training again, and the weather had warmed up again, he, Raph, and Mikey had resumed going topside for patrols again. 

Don wished he could go with them, but not in his condition. Then after the pregnancy, there would be that time of recovery too. Then a possible second pregnancy to deal with. It was going to be a LONG time before he would be fit to patrol again.


	22. Chapter 22

When Don reached the predicted 36th week mark, he was so happy! Just one month left to go! Or a shorter amount of time, but when May 16th got here, the surgery would happen no matter what. 

Don didn’t know if he was capable of going into labor or not. If he was, then the older baby had to make an appearance sooner. 

One day, he had to ask LH something. “Leatherhead, do you think you’re going to be able to do this surgery okay on me?” 

“I hope so, my friend. I know your life and your babies’ lives depend on me at the time of what I’m doing. I’ve just never done anything like this before, Donatello. But Ms. O’Neil will be here to help out too.” LH answered. 

“Yeah. I know you two will do the best you can. I just wish it was getting closer a little bit faster. I’m tired of being pregnant and on restrictions and being sick.” Don complained. 

“The big day is coming in less than a month. You’ve done so well in all this time. Just wait a little longer. Soon, the little ones will be in your arms.” Leatherhead smiled. 

Don smiled in return. 

Then April came in. “And besides, Donny. You’re lucky you’re not a woman. Most women seem to enjoy being pregnant.” 

“Aside from wanting their babies, why is that, April?” Don asked. 

“When we are not pregnant, we have to endear times of the month for a week dealing with bleeding and when we are expecting, we usually are free of that. So I’m just reminding you of how lucky you are that this pregnancy even succeeded with you being a male, where males never get pregnant and can experience the pleasure of being able to feel a baby move inside you.” April explained. 

“You have a point. And as a male and a science lover, I have been able to experience what some males can only dream of, other than women getting to experience it.” Don replied. 

“So how are the twins today?” She sat down on his bed, placing a hand on his belly. 

“Twins? I wouldn’t exactly call them twins, April.” Don said. “But the older one is moving nicely, and the smaller one is still making me sick.” 

“It won’t go on for much longer, Donny. Hang in there.” 

“That what everyone keeps on saying. And I’m trying to. It’s just this morning sickness and bed rest is really fraying my nerves. I want to do things like I used to. I sometimes feel fat and useless.” 

“A lot of pregnant folks feel this way at this stage, but you are not useless. You are bringing a new life or lives into the world, Donny. You just have to let them finish growing. And you are still capable of fixing things. You are still allowed out of bed to move about, right?” 

“Yes, but it’s very limited, April.” 

“Well, they just don’t want to risk you going into labor too soon.” 

“And I’m just worried about this second baby, April. Is it going to be able to be born with its sibling, or can it stay inside me until it’s proper time? If it’s born with its sibling, it could die for being so premature. Its not ready yet.” Don began to get teary. “I don’t want to lose either of them.” 

It’s ok. We’ll worry about it when the time comes.” She said, then gave her pregnant friend a hug to comfort him.   
……………

The more restless Don got, the more his family tried spending some family time with him and one on one times together. Card games, video games, movie nights, special dinner nights, massages, special baths, etc; they did everything they could to think of to try to make him happy and not so bored. 

Mikey asked if he had even thought of names. 

“Yes, I have Mikey, but it’s going to be a surprise, just as of course, the sexes are.” Don said. 

“I want to know now.” Mikey whined. 

“I’m sure they’re good ones, Donny.” Leo said.

“They are.”  
……………

Another week went by, and another exam was done. 

Don was growing tired of all the exams, but he knew it had to be done to know how the babies were doing. 

The older one was doing just fine. It had dipped a little bit lower towards his pelvis, but unlike a female, couldn’t go in very far. And it pushed on his bladder a bit too much now, making him visit the bathroom so much now, aside from the morning sickness that still went on. 

The smaller baby was still way too small and underdeveloped to be outside Don’s body. This one did appear to be growing fast however. It now looked like it was about 6 weeks along. It was strange. Why was this one growing so fast? There was no way it would get big enough in time to catch up to its sibling. 

After the exam, Leatherhead began looking at Don’s middle. He did some gentle pressing on his plastron, which had seemed a bit softer. Don still felt the pressure and it was uncomfortable. His baby even squirmed inside him trying to escape the pressure. 

Then the croc went about looking at Don’s sides. Don watched what he was doing. “What are you doing, Leatherhead?” He asked. 

“I’m trying to see which might be the best spot to operate on to deliver the baby when its time. And though going through your plastron seems the best way to go, but if by chance if the space in between your plastron and shell is wide enough, I might be able to go in that way, and your skin heals in half the time.” LH explained.

“So, how’s it look?” 

Leatherhead did some measurements and estimated the baby might be able to fit through Don’s side, but with two babies in question now, he might not have any other option but to open Don’s plastron. 

“The space looks like its wide enough, my friend, but there is the question of both babies being able to come out. If you want the second one too, it needs to remain inside awhile longer. I might have to go in through the front. Ms. O’Neil and I would need all the visibility we could get and we might not have enough to deliver properly through your side.” LH explained his concern. 

“I understand, Leatherhead. When it comes, just do what you think is best.” Don said. 

“If it was just that one, I would try it through your side. It looks wide enough. But it all depends on how these artificial wombs look too. Just a lot to think about.” LH said. 

“I know.” 

LH then did proceed to press on Don’s right side anyway. He could feel the baby through the skin. 

Don groaned at the discomfort. 

“Sorry. Just trying to feel the baby inside. Not easy through your plastron.” 

“I know I can feel it plenty.” 

The croc took his hands off of the turtle and said, “Well, Donatello, for now, we’ll just plan to do it through your plastron. I know it means a longer recovery time, but if you want a healthy baby, with the first one, it’s the best option to deliver safely and keep the smaller one inside you awhile longer without possibly severing anything vital to its survival. They both look like they have their own special womb and are not connected to each other. But there is a small part on both ends both connected to that tube. The tube will have to stay in awhile longer.” 

“I just hope it doesn’t spring another baby on me while I’m endearing with that one.” Don said. 

“There must have been some leftover DNA that there was just enough to jumpstart another life when your stomach hit the table.” 

“Maybe. It had to be. I just hope it doesn’t do it again. This is already overwhelming enough for me as it is. And everyone was only expecting one to be born. Now we have to prepare for two.” 

“Yes, but apparently, one at a time. One will be older than the other.” LH said. 

“And with the smaller one seeming to be growing fast, maybe it might come sooner too.” 

“We’ll see what happens.” Leatherhead said.   
…………..

Don wished he could finish the rest of his pregnancy without the morning sickness. He wondered if he and the older baby were even getting enough food in their systems when he was always throwing food back up again. He always felt hungry after eating, then going to empty his stomach’s contents was very disconcerting. 

With this, he had to go to eating soup, crackers, toast, and bananas most of the time for his food. Everything else didn’t sit right with him anymore because of the second baby. Why did he/she have to dominate the food? He just hoped his older brother or sister was getting enough to eat. Don knew he himself wasn’t getting enough to eat. 

Don was also glad that he wasn’t having to be forced to eat fish out of rivers and streams like he had to for a short time on his journey home.   
…………..

Leo often pondered when he and Mikey had been captured by the Foot, and they had met Beatrice, that though he had been tortured, would Beatrice have done to the same to them, if she didn’t get Donny back? 

He watched his brother going through this hard time and was glad it hadn’t happened to them, though there was curiosity about how it felt to be pregnant. But all the side effects, Leo didn’t care for it. But he did want to see his brother have healthy babies. 

He worried about the due date coming up. Would everything be alright? He knew they couldn’t afford to lose Donny. The family needed him. 

Don was both being the mother and father to the babies, but being the eldest brother to Don, he was practically taking on the role of concerned father. 

Raph and Mikey were concerned too, but excited. They wanted healthy nieces or nephews.  
………………… 

One night, Don woke up from a bad nightmare and Raph had heard him screaming. He went to his room. 

“What’s wrong, Donny?” He asked. 

Don had tears streaming down his face. “I had a horrible dream, Raph.” 

Raphael made his way over to the bed. “Care to talk about it?” 

Don clung to Raph, and really started to sob. Raph didn’t know what to do. His brother hadn’t spilled the beans yet. He put his hands on his brother’s shoulder and shell. He rubbed his shell. 

“What happened?” Raph asked. 

Through his sobbing, Don managed to say, “One or both of the babies was born dead!” 

Raph could see why Don was upset then. “Right now, they’re both fine, Donny. I’m sure everything will go alright.” The red banded turtle did his best to comfort his emotional sibling. And yes, everything was a risk. 

Raph stayed with Don until he settled back down to sleep again. He even ended up spending the night in Don’s bed, just trying to keep him happy. 

The next morning, Leo found them together. He checked on Don every morning. 

Raph was just waking up. 

“What’s going on here?” Leo demanded. 

“I stayed with Don because he was having a nightmare last night. He didn’t feel comfortable being alone.” Raph explained. “He was worried about one or both of them being born dead, he said.” 

Leo could understand that. “Ok. As long as that’s all it was. And yes, this is an awkward thing for him as it is, and the birth coming up is very risky, but we have to chance it if we want to have babies in the lair with us. Come on now, Raph. Let him sleep. He seems to be fine now.” 

Raph got quietly out of bed and left the room while Leo checked Don for himself very briefly and left Donny to get some rest. 

The rest of them had morning practice and then breakfast, which did end up waking Don up with the great smells of pancakes. 

Don walked into the kitchen yawning. “Hey.” 

“Donatello, how are you feeling this morning?” Splinter asked.

“I’m ok, Sensei. Thanks for asking.” Don said. 

Leo got some toast, apples, and bananas for Don’s breakfast ready. “Here’s your breakfast.” Leo said.

“Thanks. I wish I could eat the pancakes, but they’d just make me sick.” 

“One of these days, you’ll be able to eat like this again.” Raph said. 

“It would be soon if I was only having just the one baby as it started out as. And then I find that I’m still going to be pregnant again after the older one is born. It will be awhile before I’m in a condition to train and eat the same foods as you guys.” Don said. 

“As soon as the second baby is big enough, the sickness should cease. That’s how it went the first time, right?” Leo asked. 

“Yeah, I was in my third month when it finally stopped. And I’m only in my second month with the second one.” 

“And in your ninth month with the first one.” Mikey said. 

“And waiting to have him or her any day now, or the 16th.” Don said. 

“Raphael told us that you had had a bad dream last night.” Splinter stated. 

“Yes. It was hard to think about, and don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to lose either of them. Despite how it started out, it’s just, feeling the movements and hearing the heart on ultrasound, it all just made something click in me, that, as awkward as this is, this was meant to be.” Don explained his thinking. 

“We will do everything we can to help care for them and you, Donny.” Leo said. 

“I know. Thanks.”


	23. Chapter 23

Nothing much changed in the next few weeks except that the babies just kept on growing. The older one seemed done growing for the moment, while the smaller one was nearly like 8 weeks along now. It was growing oddly fast. 

Don never experienced practice contractions. He did get cramps however in his back and legs and stomach with movements. The older one was clearly wanting out so it could have more freedom to move. And Don couldn’t wait for it to have its freedom. 

Don never went into labor either over the course of the final month, and soon, May 16th finally arrived. 

Today was the big day and everyone in the lair was excited. Today there would be a baby turtle born! 

Don had been waiting for this day for a long time, and he was real nervous. He hadn’t been allowed to eat or drink this morning and the surgery was going to happen soon. 

He wished he could be awake for the surgery, but with his shell blocking his spine, he couldn’t have an epidural to remain awake. 

April and Leatherhead were going to take good care of him, he knew. 

Don couldn’t help but look down and rub his stomach. He was going to be a bit thinner soon, and with time, this new baby would make his belly get round again. These were the last moments of his stomach being this way without an injury added, and a scar added in time. And it also wouldn’t be long before the movements inside him stopped, but instead, Don would be able to hold the little being in his arms for the first time that was inside him all these months. Then it would be repeated with the second one, as long as nothing happened to it during the birth of the first one. 

“Donny! It’s time!” April called to him. 

Don sighed and got up from his bed. “This is it, little ones. Soon, my big one, you will have freedom to move about more freely while your younger sibling has to stay in awhile longer.” 

The next moments were going to be the biggest of his life and things for the whole family was about to change forever.  
……………..

Over the course of the months, Don’s infirmary had been turned into quite the sterile environment. Since this surgery was going to be so risky, they just wanted to get it off with a good start with having it being sterile. They tried to simulate a surgical room as much as possible. 

Don came into the infirmary, very nervous, and went to get on the surgical table. He didn’t have any of his gear on, not even his mask. He had taken a shower too prior to surgery so his body was clean. He was just so ready to get this over with. 

April cleaned a spot on his right arm and she put an IV into the vein. They would be inducing the anesthesia shortly. 

“Ok, Donny. Let’s have you lay back.” April said. 

The others came into the room. 

“You’re going to be fine, Don. You’ll have a new baby when you wake up.” Leo encouraged. 

“I still but can’t help but be a little scared about this though. What if something happens?” Don asked. 

“We’ll make sure to get it sorted out. We promise to take care of the babies and you.” LH replied. 

“I can’t wait to be an uncle!” Mikey said excitedly. 

“Calm down, Shell for Brains! We’re all going to be uncles, and Don’s gonna be a daddy.” Raph said. 

“And I am going to be a grandfather. Donatello, it is perfectly alright to be scared about this. It is only natural that all new parents feel this way when a newborn is on the way. And afterward. It was scary enough for me looking after all 4 of you growing up. I wondered if what I was doing was right. And all of you have turned out real well. But now, all of you are grown up and are going to be taking care of this little one and later, another one.” Splinter said. “I look forward to seeing your son or daughter.” 

“Thank you.” Don said. Then he thought about after the surgery, being in bed, and holding and admiring his baby for the first time. It brought a smile to his face. 

“Alright. I think we are ready to begin.” Leatherhead said. 

The others all wished Don good luck and filed out of the infirmary. 

April hooked up the anesthesia and injected it into the IV. 

Don began to get sleepy and he was out within a minute once the drug took effect. 

“So, are we going to have to use a saw, or can we use a scalpel?” April asked the big croc. 

Leatherhead pressed on Don’s plastron. “It seems softer, but it’s still hard enough. Using the saw might be the only option.” 

A mask was put on over Don’s mouth and nose to deliver oxygen to him. 

Leatherhead would do the cutting and April would keep track of Don’s vitals and keep any bleeding in control. They had made sure to have all the surgical tools necessary. Surgical sheets were placed over Don’s body except for his swollen stomach. It was time to bring a baby into the world. 

The croc picked up the little buzz saw and got it going.   
…………….

The others outside the room heard a saw being started up. It sent chills down all their spines, but especially Mikey’s. “Agh! Leo!” Mike ran to and hugged his eldest brother tight. “I’m so afraid for Don!” 

“He’s going to be fine, Mikey. They just have to do what they have to do.” Leo tried to comfort his baby brother. He was worried too. But the sound of the saw also gave him the chills as he was reminded of his torture not too long ago.   
…………….

Leatherhead began the cut down in the area where Don would normally wear his belt. It was just above his bladder. He began to cut across and he was sure he wouldn’t hit the baby. But then, he had to cut upward a bit on the right side. The bigger baby was more on the right side. 

He had to make a bigger incision with the saw to just make sure he could see inside his friend’s abdominal cavity to see where everything was. He had to cut a square shape in Don’s plastron to make an incision big enough to spot a good sized ball organ inside Don. He began to pick it up and took it out. 

Both LH and April had a good look at this artificial womb and it encased the baby turtle perfectly. LH let April do the cutting here. She cut the womb open, and she began to pull the baby turtle out. LH severed the cord attached. April then cleaned out the airway, and the baby let out a wail.   
………….

In the other room, it had been many minutes since they had heard the saw stop buzzing, and now, they heard a baby cry out. 

“The baby’s here!” Mikey shouted excitedly. 

“Yeah, we heard.” Raph said. 

They all then had to cheer happily. They would find out shortly what it was. Leo, Raph, and Mikey gave each other high threes.   
……………

Now that they had the baby out of the womb, April checked the sex. “We have a baby girl!” 

LH smiled. Donatello had a daughter. Then he went back to checking on the second baby. He saw the womb of the first connected to a tube. He took some surgical scissors and cut the first womb away. 

April went to cleaning up the baby girl. 

LH put the first womb on a special tray for examination later. Then he took a look at the tube that was doing everything. 

LH got a listening device and did a little scan over the second womb to see if the embryo had a heartbeat. It did. He left it alone. Then he began making sure there wasn’t a lot of blood and began sewing up Don’s tissues. The tube would stay in for the time being. It was actually attached to a bit of Don’s lower intestine, but it hadn’t seemed to have caused him any pain over the pregnancy. 

Leatherhead knew that when this tube’s time was up serving as a lifeline somehow, he would want to examine it for sure. 

Once all of Don’s tissues were sewed up, then he put Don’s plastron back in place and put some epoxy glue and a special cover over it. Everything was now set to heal. 

Don was laid aside after he was cleaned up and just left to wake up. 

April brought the baby over to LH and he smiled. “She’s perfect.” 

“She looks just like Donny.” 

Moments later, the door to the infirmary opened up and the family came up immediately. 

“How’s Donny?” Leo asked. 

“He’s fine. He’ll be awake soon. But here, you can get to meet your new niece.” April said. 

Mikey sighed inwardly. He had hoped for a nephew, but he hoped she would be just as fun to play with. But there was still a chance for the second one to be a boy, he hoped. 

“She looks a like little Donny.” Raph said. 

Leo reached forward and took one of the baby’s hands to his finger and she instantly clasped his finger. “Aww!” He couldn’t help himself. “Can I?” 

“Sure.” April said and she handed Leo the baby turtle. She was wrapped up in blankets to keep her warm. 

“Wonder what her name is?” Casey spoke up. 

“We’ll find out when Don wakes up.” Raph said. 

Leo didn’t want to let go of her, but he began passing his niece around. 

Raph and Casey were the most reluctant to hold her, but they held her with superb gentleness. And Splinter held her and was most pleased to be holding a baby again. He missed his sons being little, but he was glad he had raised them to be able to take care of themselves now. 

The family took some chairs into the infirmary and went in to wait for Don to wake up. They wanted to see his reaction when he saw his baby in person for the first time. 

Leo sat at the head of the bed. The others all took turns holding the baby while waiting for the new daddy to wake up.   
………………..

Within an hour, Donatello finally began to wake up from the drugs. “Ooh!” He moaned. 

“Donny? You awake?” Leo asked. 

Don heard his brother. “Leo?” 

“Yeah, Don. There’s someone who wants to meet you.” 

They waited till Don got his bearings again and when he was awake enough, Leo now had the baby back and he held her in his arms for Don to see. 

“This is your daughter, Donatello.” Splinter said. 

Don looked at the bundle in his brother’s arms curiously. He brought his hand forward and he could see the little face in the blanket. 

He could see it was like a mini image of himself. 

“I’m awake. Can I hold her?” Don asked. 

“Of course. You have waited a long time to meet her.” Leo said and handed her to Don. 

Don took her head into his upper arm and cradled her body with his other arm. He still had the IV in his right one, but holding her didn’t interfere with it. 

The new father looked down at the little olive green bundle he had created. Tears welled in his eyes. It had taken a long time to get to this moment in his life. 

“Was everything alright? Nothing’s wrong with her?” 

“Everything was fine and she’s just perfect, Donny. She’s like a little image of you.” April said. 

“And you said we would find out the name when you had her. So what’s her name?” Mikey asked. 

Yeah, Don had told them that would be a surprise. 

“From the meanings that I looked carefully through in the name book, I picked the name Jade for her. It’s a simple one, and it’s Spanish for ‘green gemstone; courageous; and adoring.’ Hence, she is my gemstone and I adore her. She was courageous for surviving the long journey inside me on my way home.” Don explained why he chose his baby’s name. 

“That is good thinking, Donny. Jade she is then.” Leo said. 

“Welcome to the family, Little Jade.” Master Splinter said. 

They left Don alone with Jade soon after so he could have some bonding time with his daughter. She needed to get to know that he was her main parent. 

Out of the room, April began to get a bottle ready for Jade for her first meal. She would be hungry real soon. 

“You sure she’s going to take a bottle, April?” Leo asked. 

“We have to try. No telling if she might take baby food. I have that too just in case, but let’s try the bottle first.” She said. “After all, if she does require milk as her first food, Don can’t feed her milk from his body. So we have to give this a try.” 

“Let’s hope it works.” Raph said. 

“You think Don wants to feed her her first meal?” Mikey asked. 

“As her father, I’m sure he does, Michelangelo.” Splinter said. 

In the recovery area of the infirmary, Don kissed and held Jade in his arms, admiring her little face. He couldn’t believe how tiny she was. He let her grip his big fingers with her little hands. He giggled at that. 

“I love you, Jade.” 

She seemed to answer with cooing up at him. 

“It’s almost hard to believe you’re finally here with me. I thought this day would never come. And in the next few months to come while I take care of you, I’m also going to be carrying your little brother or sister.” 

April walked in a little bit later with something in her hands. Don looked up. 

“Donny, I would think you want the honor of giving Jade her first meal?” April stated. She held up a prepared bottle. 

Don eyed it. “Yes. I would. Thank you, April.” 

The redheaded woman handed Don the bottle. It was warm. 

“I tested it on my arm. It’s not hot. Should be just right.” April said. 

“I hope so. I don’t want to hurt her mouth with just the first bottle.” Don said. 

He steadied Jade in his left arm while holding the bottle in the right one. 

Jade had been sucking on his fingers, must of have been a sign she was hungry. He tried to get the nipple into her mouth. She was curious about anything right now, and she let the nipple go in her mouth without too much problem and began to suckle. 

Milk came into her little mouth. She had her first taste of warm milk. Jade let go for a moment, taking it all in. 

“Is it good?” Don asked her. 

She reached out with her little hands for the bottle again, at least in a way. Don gave it back to her and she nursed some more. She didn’t let go this time. 

Don smiled. Evidently, this was how she was going to be eating for the first few months. 

“Shortly after you finish feeding her and burping her, Donny, you need to get up and walk around. There is an increased risk of you getting blood clots if you don’t get up soon.” April said. 

“I understand.” Don said, still watching Jade eat.   
…………..

After Jade was finished eating and burped for the first time, the family came back in and while April held Jade, Raph and Leatherhead helped Don to move out of the bed. 

He was on painkillers at the moment, but he could see the covering on his plastron. Don really didn’t want to see what had been done to him. But while he was up, they did wrap bandages around him so he didn’t have to look at it and it could make sure the covering stayed in place. Now Don truly had a taste for what Leo had gone through. 

Aside from having the cover, Don’s stomach still did have some fat on it, but it was only natural after a pregnancy. He would try to lose the weight, but what good was it going to do when in a short time he was just going to be fat again with the second baby? 

Donatello really hoped he wouldn’t have another accident while pregnant and start another baby growing. He remembered that Beatrice was only going to start him out on one baby, but had she lied to him? That she was going to keep him pregnant all the time? He didn’t know and didn’t want to know. After this 2nd baby was born, he was done. 

It did feel good to walk, and right now, he was walking nearly like his old self again. No waddling and Don had the weight out of his stomach. And he wouldn’t have to visit the bathroom so much anymore, aside from the morning sickness he would still get. 

“Here Don. I thought you might like to wear this now.” Mikey came up to Don with the purple mask. 

“Thanks, Mikey.” Don said and tied his mask back on. He felt a little more like himself with his mask back on.


	24. Chapter 24

That night, Donny slept in his room with Jade in her cradle right next to his bed. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. It was amazing she was finally out of his body and right here beside him. 

In his first day on the job as a new father, Don saw how to warm up bottles, change diapers, and learned how to feed Jade. He would learn in time what her sounds meant. She wasn’t even a full 24 hours old yet. 

It was hard to think about how her life had even begun in the first place. If that evil man had never taken him out of Beatrice’s facility, she would have been breeding him non-stop. It gave him shivers just to think about it. Evidently, Beatrice was not going to keep him away for 30 years since he had escaped. 

Despite what Don had encountered in that other dimension, he hoped that future never came to pass. 

Donny had his beautiful daughter with him. Now he would need to start thinking of another name for the second baby on the way. Another girl would be beneficial for Jade to have another girl to hang with, but Don was fine with a boy too, as long as it was healthy. 

He eventually got to sleep and had a dream where he had both his babies and they were playing together as older children. He dreamt that the other one looked like him too, and he was sure he/she would. 

Don knew that Jade looked like him and all, but it could be possible she was part of something else too.   
…………..

In the morning, Don woke up to Jade crying, probably needing changing and wanting to be fed. He couldn’t get up very fast as his stomach was hurting at the moment. The painkillers were wearing off. 

He got up slowly. “Agh! I’m coming, Jade. Hold on.” Don moaned. He just tried to breathe deeply when he was on his feet. 

Now Don knew what Leo felt with an injury to the stomach. And he knew he would have to go through this again in just a few months. And if he had still been in Beatrice’s clutches, he would have had multiple operations for each time it was time for babies to be born and she had wanted him to have a lot of them. 

Don picked up Jade to try to comfort her. She stopped for a moment, but started again.   
Don made his way over to the changing table and began the dirty job of changing her diaper. She was much happier after that. She allowed some cuddling before she started crying to be fed. 

The new father took her down to the kitchen and Mikey already had a bottle being warmed up for her. Don thanked him. Don tried to keep her comfortable until it was ready. He let her suck on his finger until then, but she continued to get fussy. 

The others would make sure Don didn’t do anything too strenuous because though he was happy to be taking care of Jade now, Don was still going to be in a lot of pain from the surgery too. They would make sure that he took his pain medicine to keep it down. 

Before the birth, even Raphael had accepted everything, but he just didn’t want the baby to be driving him crazy with constant crying. That was another part he was worried about. Could he deal with it without snapping? 

If the crying got to him, Raph would make sure to go into the sewers or topside to avoid getting overly angry. But when she wasn’t crying, he would try to be a good uncle and give her some attention. 

Little Jade would need to be handled by everyone here so she would learn they were all family or friends. But Don would need to try to do it most, as she was his daughter.   
…………..

Two weeks later, Donny had adapted to becoming a new father real well. He and his family had had to change some of their habits as well. 

For Leo, some of her crying interrupted his meditation and kata practice times. He always wanted to make sure she was alright. Sometimes he could handle it, other times, his family did. They all wanted to try to take turns dealing with Jade. 

Mikey loved holding his niece. She was just so cute and he loved making her smile. 

They all had their own time of day to where Don let the family play with her. Or just hold her. Of all of them, Raph was the most elusive. But when it was his time of day, he would make sure they were alone and then he would turn into a real soft father like figure. 

Master Splinter loved holding his granddaughter. She reminded him so much of Donatello when he was a baby. But she wasn’t him. She might have inherited her father’s smarts, he might be sure of that, but only time would tell. If she was anything definitely like him in interests, he knew she would be eager to learn new things. She could be a top model student.   
…………..

Leatherhead had moved back to his own home now that his friend seemed to be doing fine and healing well. Don and his daughter were both doing well. 

Now, LH wanted to check up on Don’s other baby again to see how much it had grown. Don came by today for a checkup. His family tagged along too, as they wanted to see the younger one too. 

With the covering on his plastron, it made it a little more harder to have an ultrasound. But that baby was more on the left side anyway. 

Don was lying on his back on Leatherhead’s exam table, waiting patiently. His family waited nearby. Leo was holding Jade, rocking her. 

The big croc started up his machine and gelled up the wand and Don’s belly. Don flinched. Why did the gel always have to be so darn cold?! 

LH ran the wand over the middle to the left side, trying to find the embryo. When he did happen to see the tube and a little ball, he looked and examined it. He had a good look and all of a sudden, Leatherhead had a feeling that something was off about it. 

The last time he had seen the embryo, it had had a formation and a heartbeat, but this time, all he was seeing was a ball beside the tube, he wasn’t seeing much else. He turned on the sound to just see if he could find anything at all. 

Don wondered what was taking so long that his friend hadn’t turned the screen to him. “What’s going on, Leatherhead? Have you found it?” Don asked. 

“Yes, I’ve found it, but I’m just trying to examine it a bit more first.” LH answered. 

Don hoped nothing was wrong. 

Leatherhead was moving the wand all around Don’s belly, and he wasn’t getting a sound. This wasn’t good. 

Don could tell his croc friend was worried. He could see it on his face. “What’s wrong, LH?” 

“Donatello, I think I have some bad news.” 

When he heard that, he had a feeling of what he was going to say. The others perked up too. 

“I’m afraid the baby might have died.” LH said. 

“It can’t be. It was just fine two weeks ago.” Don said. 

“Some things can change in just two weeks as well. Here, I’ll show you and see if you see anything.” LH said. 

Leatherhead turned the computer to Don finally and put the wand back on him. He found the ball in there, and Don could see what his friend was talking about. 

“You see, there is the tube right there, and there is that womb. Inside that little ball, there is nothing there. I tried listening for a heartbeat. There is nothing there, Donatello. Last time, there was a heartbeat.” 

Don could see there was no movement whatsoever in that little ball. How could this have happened? 

“I don’t get it. How could this have happened? I was doing everything right.” 

“The baby was growing awfully fast, and maybe it’s heart gave out on it. It’s hard to say. These things just happen sometimes.” LH tried to say what could have happened. 

Donny couldn’t believe this was happening. He remembered his dream that one of them was born dead. Had that been a premonition? 

“Are you absolutely certain that its not alive?” Leo asked. 

“From what I am seeing, Leonardo, yes, I’m sure. There is no heart beat either.” 

“No! This can’t be happening!” Don said angrily and he began to cry. He had been so excited to see the second one again, but this time, nothing. 

“What happens now?” Raph asked. 

“It needs to be removed.” Leatherhead said. 

Don opened his eyes. “No! It might still be alive.” 

Leo handed Jade to Mikey. He knew he might be needed to calm his brother down or in case he tried to run. 

“Don, if it’s dead, there’s no more point in letting it stay in you.” Leo said. 

“I just had surgery and I’m not ready to face it again so soon.” Don said, now sitting up. 

“It was miscarried, Don. It needs to come out.” Raph said. 

“No! It’s alive! I know it is!” Don’s mind wasn’t himself. He began to try to leave the croc’s home. 

“Don! This needs to be taken care of now.” Leo said. 

“I won’t let it happen!” Don said. He saw the others were ganging up on him. 

He was still a little sore from his surgery, but right at the moment, pain was the last thing on his mind, aside from his mental pain if he had truly lost this baby. 

“Just leave me alone!” Don cried out and he charged out of Leatherhead’s home. 

“Don, wait!” Leo called and ran after him. Raph followed. 

“He sure is taking it hard.” Mikey said, just trying to hold Jade. 

“He was expecting it to come so Jade could have a sibling. Its not his fault this happened. We must just be there for him. At least he still does have Jade.” Splinter said. 

“I didn’t want to cause your son pain, Master Splinter, but he needed to know there wasn’t one coming this time.” LH said. 

“It is alright, Leatherhead. You did the right thing by telling him.” Splinter replied. 

Mikey just hoped Don was going to be alright. He and his father went home and took Jade with them.   
They knew that Don, Leo, and Raph would come home soon.   
……………

Leo and Raph chased Don for a little while. Don still had gel on his stomach, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to vent his rage that this had happened. 

“Donny!” Raph called out. 

“Leave me alone!” Don called back to him. 

Soon, he came to a dead end. He turned around and his two older brothers had him cornered. 

“Just stay away from me!” 

“Don, we just want to help you.” Leo said. “We know how much you were looking forward to the new baby coming, but whatever happened, happened. We’re sorry it happened. We’re here for you.” 

“It’s like, aside from what started it’s life compared to Jade’s, I was on a hard journey home and yet, Jade survived. I wasn’t training or doing anything, other than being sick all the time. Why couldn’t this one make it?” Don asked, sobbing. He sunk to the floor. 

Leo and Raph slowly walked up to him. 

“I know this one is not coming alive, but it is irreplaceable.” Raph said. “But you still do have Jade, Bro.” 

“The way it was growing so fast might have had an impact on it.” Leo said, “Like what Leatherhead said.” 

Don really didn’t want to think about it. “Guys, I just need some time to myself.” He said. 

“Ok. Just be careful out here and come home soon. Jade will be needing you.” Leo said. 

“I know, and I love her.” 

“I know you’re hurtin’ right now, but just be happy for the one that you do have.” Raph said. 

“Raph! Let’s go!” Leo ordered. 

Raph looked at Don one more. “I’m sorry, Don.” Then he and Leo left Don alone. 

Don waited till they were gone and then he really broke down. He just had to get these feelings out of his system. Why did this happen?!   
………….

Donny soon was done crying. He went home and went to bed. He didn’t want to be near anyone right now, though he would let Jade slide. He found her in her cradle. His brothers had obviously put her to bed for him. Usually he did that. 

Raph had been right. He should be grateful he still had her. He smiled and stroked her little head. 

Don then settled into his bed. His mind couldn’t get around two concepts: one, that the baby had been growing too fast, and the other was that when Beatrice had impregnated him, it was possible for a pregnancy to fail. She had never said why, but there had only been one successful test pregnancy other than him carrying Jade to term. 

Don wondered if he should even go after her. He knew she would want him back. But him going after her would be for more information or revenge. But he never wanted to see that woman again. He decided he would let this go, at least for now.   
…………..

He went down for breakfast the next morning, carrying Jade. He would always feed her first before himself. 

His family looked up when he entered. 

“How are you feeling this morning, Donatello?” Splinter asked. 

“I feel like my heart was pulled out and put back in. I’m miserable right now, Father.” Don said. 

“It’s understandable.” Leo said. “You had grown used to the idea of another one coming. We all did.” 

“Leatherhead said that you need to get the baby out as soon as possible.” Splinter said. 

“I’m not ready yet.” 

“You’ll never be ready. But this needs to be done soon, Don.” Raph said. 

Mikey was there, but he was keeping himself quiet. He didn’t know what to say at the moment, though he knew he was losing or had lost a nephew or niece with this miscarriage. He had a sad look on his face too. 

When Don let Mikey take care of Jade for awhile, he told his brother he was going to April’s. He needed to talk to her. 

Mikey understood. April could always be counted upon when they had troubles and needed to talk.   
…………..

April hadn’t been expecting Don to visit today, but she let him in. “How’s everything going?” 

“Not good. April, yesterday I had another exam for the second baby. It’s-” 

April could tell something was wrong. “What is it?” 

“It’s dead, April. I don’t know what went wrong, but it died!” Don couldn’t help his sobbing. 

April went and hugged him. She knew he just needed a shoulder to cry on just now. “I’m so sorry, Donny.” 

She just went on letting him cry on her and she rubbed his shell to try to offer any comfort that she could, but there was no real true comfort in knowing he had lost a child. 

“And they want me to have another surgery to remove it. Can’t it just get reabsorbed by my body?” 

“It might, but it’s more better if they do remove it, Donny. Leatherhead wanted to examine the contents of that tube anyway when the baby was ready to be born, but right now, I know this is hard, but it needs to come out. And we don’t know if the dissolving body or womb could make you sick.” April explained. 

Don kept on letting his feelings out until he couldn’t cry anymore. At that time, he knew the woman was right. It was sad, but it needed to be gotten done sooner or later to prevent any infection in his body. 

April had helped to make him feel a little better about having the embryo removed, but it didn’t mean that he would stop mourning for his lost little one.  
……………..

Don went back to the lair and he told his family he was ready to get the embryo taken out. 

They were happy for that, but were still worried about him. They knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but it needed to be done for Don’s health sake.   
…………..

They went back to Leatherhead’s for the surgery. 

The big croc was certain he knew what he was doing. He had the others stay away while he gave Don a sedative and he took great care when opening up Don’s plastron again. But this time, it was more on the left side instead of where it was last time. 

Leatherhead could see the womb was attached to the tube and the tube was attached to a bit of intestine. He cut away at the edge of the intestine and then the tube was now off and out! 

He put the tube and womb onto a cart shelf that was right there. Then he set about sewing up Don’s tissues and fixing up Don’s plastron again, but now, he had more of a covering on more of his plastron. It was now all over. Without the tube, Donatello wouldn’t be getting pregnant anymore. 

LH set Don on the special recovery cot and covered him up and he could now wake up from the sedative. 

He told the others they could come back in and sit with him if they wanted. He would be fine physically, but mentally would be another matter, as Don had taken the loss very hard and had needed a couple of extra days to come around to let him take the dead baby out. 

Don’s family did come back in and sat with him while LH took the contents he had taken out of Don’s body to his work area where he wouldn’t disturb the others. 

Leatherhead cut open the womb and found the little body that had already started decomposing. Much longer and Don could have gotten sick from that. 

He was amazed he was seeing a little body this small and looked as good as it did. He looked it over carefully before he would do anything else. He looked at the tail especially. It was very small, but from what it looked like, it might have been a little boy. 

At this age in development, it was real hard to say for certain, but as far as LH would go, he would say Don had a son with this one. He could also still name him, to honor his memory and his short life. Jade would be told that she had had a baby brother. 

LH didn’t do anything else with the body as he knew Donatello might not like it, but he did go on to examine the contents inside the tube that was responsible for everything. He had separated the womb from the tube. 

He opened up the tube and put some of the contents on a slide so he could see under his microscope. Under there, he saw stuff that was unusual. Hormones to sustain pregnancy, some alien DNA kind of thing, as it didn’t match anything he was familiar with, and a few more eggs! 

Donatello could have been pregnant a few more times! Now that possibility had been severed. He had come to accept the second baby, but hadn’t wanted anymore. Two kids were virtually enough to take care of. 

Leatherhead decided he would freeze the contents of the tube in case if Don ever wanted another baby. If he was willing to endure this experience again. So that woman had put more eggs into that tube than just one or two. 

When he went back to check on Don, he saw that he was awake. He was now holding Jade in his arms. 

“My friends, I have some news.” LH began. 

They all looked over at him. “What killed the baby?” Don demanded. 

“I don’t know, Donatello. But I can say that from looking carefully, I think you had a son this time.” 

“My son.” Don sniffled. 

“Naming him would give him an honorable memory.” Leo said. “Have you ever thought of a boy’s name?” 

“Yes. We can name him the name meant for Jade if she had been a boy.” Don said. 

“Before you go there, there is also more news. I examined the contents of the tube. And inside it I found a lot of stuff, including at least 3 more eggs. You might have ended up being pregnant with 5 kids eventually, Donatello.” LH explained. 

Don’s eyes lit up. 

“But I have frozen the eggs or embryos just in case if you ever want a second one again. I know for right now that your soul needs time to heal from this incident. But I hope this brings some comfort to you if you ever want another child.” LH said. 

“Thanks for everything, Leatherhead.” Leo said. “And it might be a consideration one day, but probably not for a few years.” 

Don sat there just in shock. He was just rocking Jade while she slept. Right now, he didn’t know what to think. 

As soon as he was deemed awake enough, they went back to the lair. Don was a bit sore again, but he would live. But this time, there was no second baby to be bringing home alive.   
……………

A couple days later, a little pier was made and Don’s son was cremated. 

The family stood there and watched sadly. Don held Jade during this sad event, but he was glad he still had one baby to look after. 

There was little Don’s friends or family could do to comfort him, but they did try. 

Donny had thought about it and though he wanted to just recover from the surgeries, and then he wanted to get back to normal as possible. He wanted to get back into training as soon as possible, but it wouldn’t happen for a few more months. 

But in a few years, yes, Don thought that he would be willing to try again to have the second child of his dreams again. His daughter would need at least one sibling in her life. 

Don had named his son Niaz, which was Hindi for gift.


	25. Chapter 25

Over the summer months, Donny looked after Jade with the help of his family. He had his family look after her in certain parts of the day so he could get work done in his workshop, but he would still hang with her in the mornings and evenings. He especially put her to bed. She responded to his voice very well. He just had something that could calm her down. 

If Don couldn’t put her to bed then Leo was the next best one to do it. He might not have been her dad, but he also had a big fatherly touch. 

Donny still thought of his son frequently; what would he have looked like and what would he have been like? 

Despite how everything had started out that Donatello had wanted nothing to do with, especially since he had been in bad clutches at the time, now that he was back home, Don did now change his mind about it. He did want another baby. But he wanted to wait until Jade was a little older first. 

His plastron was healing very well. And as for Leo’s plastron, his cover had finally come off and he had a healed plastron now. There was some scarring, but Leo had gone through it to protect Don, and would go through it again, though not wanting it to happen again. 

Mikey felt he was Jade’s best uncle. He could get her to laugh at him easily. All his childishness could come in more handy now. He felt they would be real close while she was growing up. 

While Mikey was the uncle that loved to get her to laugh, Raph focused more on keeping Jade serious. He would talk to her, tell his biggest secrets to, let her play with his mask and some other things. 

Leo for the most part just loved holding her. For all the times that he had put in caring for his brothers like a parent, now at last, his parent like concerns and skills were coming in handy looking after a real baby. He knew his brothers were adults, but he just couldn’t help but worry about them, especially for Raph’s rebellious nature and Mikey’s childish ways. Don wasn’t too much of a concern, except for right now while he was still recovering and what if this Beatrice woman was still around? More than likely she would be wanting him back. 

Leo was looking forward to having a fresh student to teach the ninja arts to in a few years as well. And maybe more if Don decided on carrying any of the frozen embryos in the near future. 

Master Splinter spoiled his granddaughter. He would make her laugh with his fur tickling her. He even loved bottle feeding her. 

Donny was recovering well and he was back to being busy nearly all the time. The lair just needed him a lot, but he didn’t ignore Jade. He spent time with her for some feedings, baths, and bedtime. He would talk to her about how he was looking forward to teaching her many things and that someday she would have another brother or sister. 

April and Casey loved watching and holding her too. It just made April want her own kids now. Casey on the other hand thought she was cute, but when it came to wanting his own kids, he wondered if he had what it took to be serious enough to be a good parent. He loved his night excursions and fighting criminals, much like Raph.   
…………..

By November, Jade was starting to teethe and was started on some baby food, but still took the bottle. She was six months old now. She was sitting up, starting to crawl, meaning that she had to be watched carefully when she was outside her playpen or crib. She was growing up all the time. 

Don’s plastron was now well enough he could start patrolling again. He would be so happy to get out of the lair again. He had began his training again a month ago. He had had much catching up to do. His foot was fully recovered and had healed long ago. 

Don was weary though of going topside again. He wanted to get out yes, but he still worried about his former captor. 

The turtles did see Foot patrols they had said. Though if they were seen, more than likely they had thought the turtles were reduced by one. 

Splinter watched Jade while the four brothers had a reunion run tonight. Don was finally allowed to be with them again topside! 

They played tag and hide and seek, just anything to try to have a good time to celebrate Don’s return to the surface world. They even had a pizza and sodas while out. 

With everything they were doing tonight, it made Don truly feel like himself again. He was out and about, and he was laughing and smiling. It was really good for his brothers too. They didn’t have these moments enough. 

The guys were out for a good 3 hours or so, not finding much in the ways of trouble, so they just kept on having fun. 

But from a nearby rooftop, there were Foot ninjas watching them. They weren’t going to bother the turtles tonight, as they didn’t have enough soldiers with them, but they just watched them. They had gotten used to the number of three turtles, but now, they were seeing the turtle in purple with them again. He had survived and made his way back home! 

When Beatrice had learned that her turtle was back, that made her more determined to want to get him back. She wanted to know if her experiment had succeeded or failed, and if successful, she would do it to him again. She figured the guys wouldn’t bring a baby topside given its vulnerable state.

She had missed being around Donatello. He might not have liked being around her or working for her, but she had found him a delight to be around. And she still wanted more babies from him. She would have the Foot take a go at getting him back, one way or another.   
……………

The turtles did a lot more patrols together again. For right now, they wanted to make the most of getting out because once colder weather took hold again, there would be limited times of going out for their own good. 

Donny was keeping tabs on how cold it would get down in the lair. He was already having Jade being put into her baby clothes to help keep her warmer, but she didn’t exactly like being put into these clothes. She would throw fits and get mad every time Don or even one of his brothers would try to dress her. Dealing with the diapers was a little more simple compared to a fussy, mad six month old not wanting clothes on. 

Dealing with the clothes was not something Raph liked to deal with because he didn’t like to hear his niece screaming in his ears. He usually left that up to his brothers. They didn’t like to hear her scream either, but it was for her own good. 

Jade was dressed in pink, yellow, green, purple, light shades of blue, and even red and orange colors. They liked to see which colors suited her best. But her color wouldn’t be decided till she was a little older. 

Splinter always babysat when all of his sons went out. But sometimes one of they guys would stay home and watch Jade too, especially if they wanted one on one time with her while her dad and other uncles were out, and vice versa, Don wanting to spend time with her and her uncles were out. 

April and Casey watching Jade was more of a rarity, but they would watch her too if needed. The two of them had discussed kids of their own and were soon going to prepare for them. They were married after all.   
…………..

The Foot and Beatrice’s men were now all working together on patrols. Traps were being set all over the city should the turtles all come into them. The main trap was numbers. But they were to only try to get at them when the purple masked turtle was with them. 

Karai also went out with her soldiers sometimes. She could see that Leonardo had recovered from the injuries he had gotten last winter. And she would see to do more harm to him this time and eventually, kill him. 

Beatrice didn’t care about what happened with the other three, she just wanted Donatello back. She had to know if the experiment had been a success or failure. 

Tonight, two turtles were spotted going over rooftops in Chinatown. Donatello was one of them. They were told to engage them.


	26. Chapter 26

Don was patrolling with Raph tonight. Raph was wanting to check out a report on Purple Dragons that he had gotten from Casey, and with the technology that they might be dealing with or stealing, he wanted to bring Don with him in case it was something they could use to their advantage to take home themselves or stop the Dragons. 

Donny was enjoying the time spent with Raph. They didn’t spend too much time together alone. But once they encountered this technology, it was the mission to get it out of the wrong hands. 

Soon, they came across the place that was said to be where the Dragons were. They didn’t see anything from the outside. Maybe there had been a back way in and investigated. And indeed, the back door was found wide open. They snuck in to see what was happening before they would begin a fight. 

The two turtles followed a path of destruction, from guards having been knocked unconscious to broken security cameras and screens. They soon found the whole gang in the supply room, taking what they wanted. 

“Now, Don?” Raph whispered. He was in a mood to listen tonight. 

“Yes.” Don replied lowly. 

They stood up. “Don’t think those belong to you.” Raph said. 

“Yeah. Just put the computers back and no one gets hurt.” Don added. They both had their weapons drawn. 

“Its none of your business, Turtles.” 

“Oh but, afraid it is.” Raph said and attacked, Don following suit. 

Together, they attacked the Purple Dragons and left most of them unconscious and the sirens could be heard shortly, that the police were about to find out about this. Don and Raph left the scene, making sure to link the stuff with the Dragons. 

“That felt so good to take those guys out.” Don said. 

“For you, I bet. You haven’t been out much for the past several months.” Raph laughed. 

“Yeah.” 

But once they made it to the rooftops again, they were taken by surprise when the Foot clan jumped in and surrounded the two brothers. Don and Raph both took out their Bo and Sais. They stood back to back. 

“We really didn’t need this!” Don said. 

“Just watch your back, Donny-boy!” Raph said. 

“And that’s why you’re here with me!” 

The Foot attacked and the two turtles tried to stay next to each other. 

Most of the Foot soldiers could be easy to take down usually, but since they had begun training under Karai, she had made them much tougher fighters. They had been easier to take down when the alien Utrom had been the Shredder. 

Raph and Don were soon getting stressed from the fighting and were soon separated, but they weren’t giving up. They wouldn’t leave until every last one of them was defeated, but it just wasn’t as easy as it used to be to defeat these humans. 

Soon, the Foot Elite were allowed to step in and they finished the job. Don and Raph were so tired right now that the Elites were able to knock their weapons away and got the two turtles onto their hands and knees. It had been two Elites per one turtle. 

Don had gone down easier than Raph, and Raph had put up a much bigger fight. 

The two of them were both down and looking up at their enemies, wondering what was going to come next. Don really hoped he wasn’t going to be killed. He had a daughter back home that needed him. He and Raph were both panting hard. 

An order was given silently with a nod of the head and then, forcing both of them flat down onto their plastrons, more Foot ninjas forced their hands behind their backs and tied them. Then they were pulled up and then two big ninjas picked them up and began to carry them down a fire escape. 

“Let go of me!” Raph yelled. 

“Let us go!” Don cried out. 

Both of them put up a struggle even with their hands tied up. They were taken to a transport truck and thrown inside, grunting at their hard landings. The wind was knocked from their lungs. The doors were then shut and locked. 

“What do you think they want with us?” Don asked nervously, a chill settling in his stomach. 

“We’ll find out, and we know it’s nothin’ good.” Raph said. 

They both tried to catch their breath and at the same time, trying to get their hands free from the ropes. 

It wasn’t a long drive, but it was long enough. 

The truck was turned off and they knew they had arrived at their destination. They had a feeling it was the Foot building. Don was glad he had Raph with him, but they could still end up separated once inside. 

The doors were opened up and two men entered, pulling the turtles to their feet and making them walk to the edge and jump down. Then they were taken on one arm and forced to walk inside. But once they were in the front of the building, that’s when the humans decided to pull a surprise on them and they turned their masks around so they couldn’t see. 

“Hey! What’s the big idea?!” Raph demanded.

“Agh!” Don cried out. 

“Now move on, Turtles!” And they were pushed onward. 

Don and Raph knew that they had to rely on the humans to guide them right now without the ability to see. 

“Raph?” Don asked. 

“I’m here, Don.” Raph replied, trying to assure his younger brother. 

It seemed like a long trip of where the two of them were being taken, whichever part of the building it was on. 

“Now we have reached the part where the two of you say your goodbyes.” 

“What?! NO!” Don screamed. 

“Donny!” 

Both of them tried to get free more than ever. But they were pulled in different directions. 

“I’ll find you, Don!” Raph shouted to Donny. 

“Don’t take my brother away from me!” Don yelled. 

“Too bad. You both are wanted, but each one of you for something different.” Don was pulled toward his destination after that. He had already heard Raph having been pulled away from him and a door had been opened and closed. He couldn’t hear him anymore. 

Don was so scared after having been separated from Raph. He feared what he was caught for. 

Soon, a door opened up and he was pulled into the room. His hands were cut free from behind him and his arms were gotten a hold of and he was pulled from the back now. 

“No! I won’t do what you want!” He yelled. 

“You don’t have a choice.” 

Don tried to plant his legs into the floor, but he was dragged if he didn’t move. And a good kick to one leg was enough to make him back up. 

Then he felt himself be pulled up and sat down, like onto a table and then he was forced to lay down onto his back. 

“NO! Let me go!” Don tried to get up. 

“Hurry! Tie him down!” Came the order. 

Donatello was squirming so much, he wasn’t going to make this easy for his captors. He was also in a panicking mode because he couldn’t see and he wanted to be with his brother. 

Don used all the strength he could muster in all his limbs but in the end, they were all put into leather shackles and he was tied down. His middle heaved heavily. Then finally, his mask was turned back around so he could see again. 

The smart turtle could see he was in a room that seemed like a surgical kind of room. He could see a stand that more than likely had surgical tools on it. Don dreaded being dissected. 

Then the door opened up and in walked a familiar looking woman. Don’s eyes widened. 

“Hello, Donatello. It’s been a long time.” She greeted. 

“Beatrice!” 

“I see you remember me. How have you been?” She asked. 

“Well enough. Now how about letting me go?” He snarled at her. 

“You aren’t getting away from me again. How did you get out in the first place? You had nothing on you that night.” Beatrice demanded. 

“Your chief officer drugged me and took me out of your facility. He drove me out to the middle of the countryside and tried to kill me! I escaped him. Anything he would have told you about me getting away on my own was all his doing!” Don exclaimed quickly. 

“And the brother you were brought in with killed my chief officer. He’s going to pay for that.” 

“But what are you going to do with me?” Don asked nervously. 

“I want to see how well you did with the experiment.” 

Don began to squirm again. 

Under the lights shining down, Beatrice got close to the table and she got a good look at Don’s plastron. She could see the scars from the surgery. 

“I can see marks on your belly shell here that obviously were from a surgery. You obviously carried the baby to term. Now where is it?” She demanded. 

“No! I didn’t carry the baby to term! I had the surgery to abort it! I told you I didn’t want to be part of what you wanted!” Don lied. He hoped she would take a hint and not do something stupid. 

“Well, that’s going to change. I still have some frozen embryos from last time and you are going to give me a baby, whether you like it or not. And if they don’t survive, we’ll just have to start over again, as you well remember what happened to start it all.” She said. 

Don gulped. Darn right he remembered and didn’t want to go there again. Those experiences had nearly ruined his life; traumatized him for a long time. He didn’t want to have those nightmares anymore. 

“And if I have to go to keeping you locked up all the time or even sedated, so be it. You aren’t getting away again, or at least until I get that first baby.” 

“You’re crazy!” 

“You can call me what you want, but I will get what I want from you.” Then she turned to her men. “You know what to do. Prepare the spot while I go get the new embryos ready.” Beatrice said and left the room. 

“Yes, Ma’am.” 

Her men were not dressed in ninja garb. Don watched them approach him. 

He gulped and began to struggle. He wasn’t going to let this happen again.   
……………

Raphael was taken to a separate part of the building and tied up. But unlike Don, he wasn’t given the satisfaction of having his mask turned around again. They would wait until his ‘punishment’ was over first. 

The tough turtle was hit on the back of his legs to get him to his knees, then he was forced onto his back on the floor. His hands had been untied and held tightly till they got him down. 

“Let go of me or you’ll pay for this!” Raph yelled. 

“You’re going to pay before you ever do anything to us.” Raph was given a warning. 

Raph’s hands were pulled above his head and shackled. His ankles were also tied down. He continued to struggle. 

He tried not to show that he was scared, and kept up the brave charade. He had no idea what they were going to do to him. But he did know he was lying spread out on a hard floor and not on a table. But more than anything, he hoped Donny was ok. 

“Time for your punishment, Turtle.” 

“You can do what you want with me, just don’t hurt my brother!” Raph declared. 

“Beatrice has her own plans for your brother.” 

Behind his mask, Raph’s eyes lit up. For all he knew, Beatrice might try to impregnate his brother again. 

Then Raph heard footsteps and they stopped beside him. He had no idea what would happen next. 

The weapons came down on both of Raphael’s arms, breaking the bones in the arms and elbows. 

Raph cried out so loud, it could be heard clear down the hallway. 

“Now the other half.” 

Raph was panting real hard, just taking in the new pain when he heard that. He heard the steps shift a little further away from his head, and then it happened again, to his hands. 

Raph couldn’t hold back the scream that came from his throat a second time. The pain was unbearable. What was next? Broken ribs?! 

He hoped they wouldn’t break his ribs. Having had them broken before had been beyond unbearable. It had been so hard to move without cracking them and hard to breathe at times. 

But with two broken hands and arms was even harder when he couldn’t use them anymore or at least for a long time. 

“Leave him for now.” 

Raph gave a deep sigh, but then he felt something else. One man clearing out that had witnessed him killing a man then gave Raph a good, hard kick in his left knee/leg area. 

Raph couldn’t help but wince. It wasn’t broken, but it would leave a good bruise. Then his mask was turned around before he left. 

When he was left alone, he wondered how he and Don were going to get out of this? 

“Donny.” He moaned, wanting his brother.   
…………….

Back at the lair, Leo and Mikey were having fun babysitting Jade tonight. They took turns bouncing her on their laps, and just doing some fun things with her before it was time to put her to bed. 

Once she was in bed, the two brothers wanted some quiet time before they too would head to bed. Leo had known that Don and Raph were out together, but as he checked the time, something felt off. They should have been back over an hour ago. 

“Mikey, Don and Raph should have been home by now.” Leo said, concern in his voice. 

“Maybe they got caught up in having fun, or they got caught up in fighting bad guys.” Mikey said. 

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Leo said, and went to wake Splinter. 

“Master.” Leo said. 

“Leonardo?” The rat moaned. 

“Master, I think Raph and Don are in trouble. We might need you to help us.” Leo said. 

“Very well. I’m coming, my son.” Splinter said and got up, despite being tired. 

When Leo and Splinter came out of Splinter’s room, the rat said, “Michelangelo, we need you to stay here and watch Jade.” 

“Ok. I will.”

“We’ll be back as soon as possible, Mikey.” Leo said, and he and their father left the lair. 

Now with a baby in the lair, someone would always have to stay behind to watch her to keep her safe. And right now, her father was in danger as well as one of her other uncles.


	27. Chapter 27

Splinter had caught the scent and followed it to Chinatown. Leo followed. Soon, they found the spot where Don and Raph had struggled with the Foot and they found Don’s Bo and Raph’s Sais. 

“The Foot has taken them, Leonardo! I can smell them!” 

“Then we have to break them out! I don’t want them going through what I did.” Leo said sadly. He still remembered the feeling of being in pain from that ordeal. They had to be gotten out before something did happen to them. 

They went back to the lair to get the Battle Shell and notify Mikey of the situation. This couldn’t wait. Their highest hopes were that they were at the Foot building. 

April was called and though it was the middle of the night, she came down to help them out with the science tracking in the building and to babysit Jade. Casey was called in to help with the fighting. They would need all the help they could get. 

Together, the four boys went to the Foot building to get their sons and brothers back.   
……………..

Don laid on the table struggling to avoid the ultrasound machine that they wanted to use on his belly to find a good spot. He wasn’t going to let them do this again. 

“NO! I won’t let you do this again! I don’t want another baby!” Don screamed.

“So, answer me this: How long were you pregnant?” Beatrice asked. She was now back in the room. “I know that baby you carried at the time was alive. You were like 3 months along with it.” 

“It died at 5 months along.” Don lied, but just wanting to get her off his back. 

“That’s too bad, but that’s why we’re going to keep on trying.” She said. 

The gel was applied and Don wouldn’t hold still long enough for them to apply the wand. 

“Hold still!” The man demanded. 

Don refused and kept on moving about. He kept an eye on the humans though so he could at least try to protect his neck in case any of them went for that approach again. 

“Stop moving, Donatello!” Beatrice demanded. 

“NO! I won’t!” He yelled. 

Beatrice gave a signal with her head and then another man did step forward. He had something in his hand. 

Don saw what it was and it just made him squirm all the more. It was a crowbar! 

The man made his way to the scared turtle and raising the bar, he brought it down onto Don’s upper stomach. 

“OH!” Don cried out as the wind was knocked out of him. He felt the pain in his abdomen and he just tried to catch his breath. 

But the blow did leave him not moving to where the doctor could now go about putting the wand on Don’s lower belly and find the spot. He found it and then, taking the syringe, he put the six inch long needle into Don’s side and injected a new tube. 

Don had winced when he felt the needle go in. But this time, he wasn’t going to let the tube stay in him. It would be taken out when he got out of here. 

“There. All done.” 

“Now that wasn’t so hard. All that was needed was cooperation.” Beatrice said. “And in a matter of months, I’ll have a new baby turtle.” 

“No!” Don said weakly. “I won’t- let you!” He was still very winded. 

All of a sudden, an alarm started blaring. 

“What’s going on?” Beatrice stated. 

Don smiled. It had to be his family breaking in to save him and Raph. He hoped to Heaven that it was. He began to squirm again.   
…………..

Leo, Splinter, Mikey, and Casey had searched several floors and were making good time. Splinter could sense where his two missing sons had been and could smell their scents. Soon, they came to the separation hallway and he and Leo went left, looking for Don and he sent Mike and Casey to the right to search for Raph. 

Splinter could smell Don’s scent and soon they came to the room where he was. 

Don couldn’t have been happier to see them. “Master Splinter! Leo! Get me out of here!” Don cried. 

“Not so fast! He’s not going anywhere! Now I have all of your family here, Donatello. They all might come in handy in my breeding program!” Beatrice said proudly. 

“No one hurts my sons the way you have harmed Donatello!” Splinter growled. 

Beatrice had never seen or met Splinter and she was shocked at this, but she wasn’t about to let even this rat take her top turtle away again. 

“Take him!” She ordered. 

Her men took on Splinter and were easily defeated. Leo automatically went to free Don, but Beatrice tried keeping him away. He took her on and got too close and slashed her in across the chest and throat and she was dead in a matter of seconds. Then he set Don free. 

Don held his stomach as he got up. 

“What’s wrong, Don?” Leo asked, concerned. 

“A crowbar was used to hit me in my stomach to get me to stop moving so they could do what they wanted to do.” Don groaned. 

“Did she succeed in doing it, my son?” Splinter asked. 

“Yes. She had another tube implanted into me so I would be pregnant again. I’m not ready for another pregnancy. It needs to come out before it begins.” Don said. 

“Yes, and we’ll do it when we get home.” Leo said. “Right now we need to go find Raph.” 

“Yes. They said that he was going to be punished for killing Beatrice’s chief officer.” Don said. 

They hurried out to go find Mike, Casey, and Raph.   
……………

Raph was still lying on the floor in major pain. He heard the alarm blaring too. 

Then, his door suddenly burst open and in came his baby brother and Casey. 

“Raph! Thank heavens, you’re alright!” Mikey said excitedly as he went to undo the shackles on him. 

When he couldn’t get them undone, Casey tried to get them open. 

Raph let loose a good cry of pain. “Take it easy! My arms and hands are broken, you nimrods!” 

“What?!” Mike and Casey said at the same time. 

Don, Splinter, and Leo were making their way up the hall and they heard Mike and Casey’s comment.   
When they entered, they saw Raph tied down to the floor. 

Don went over and hugged Raph. “Are you alright?” 

“No, Donny-boy. They broke my hands and arms.” Raph said. 

“What?” Don stated in shock. He knew they were going to hurt him, but not hurt him that bad, but then again, this was the Foot. They were always dishonorable. 

“Leo, if you would do the honors.” Don said. “I’m so sorry this happened, Raph.” 

Leo stepped forward and took out one of his katana. “Don’t move, Raph.” Leo said. 

Raph didn’t move and closed his eyes. Leo sliced through the bonds perfectly and didn’t even leave a graze in the skin. 

“Can you walk, Raph?” 

“Yes, but I just can’t use my hands or arms.” 

Despite what was going on, his family had to use his arms a little bit to get him to his feet. He could still walk, but he limped since being kicked in the knee. 

Don felt bad for Raph that this had happened to him. This would seem even more if not equally bad treating his hotheaded brother for two broken arms and hands just like he had treated his lead brother for a badly cut open plastron. 

The family knew Raph was going to go crazy when he wouldn’t be able to use his arms for awhile. 

Don was more than happy that at least he wouldn’t be dealing with Beatrice again any time in the future. Now he and his family could look forward to a more happier future, at least with her out of the way, but there would always be other enemies. 

But before they fully filed out of the building, Don couldn’t leave without finding all the information Beatrice had on him, and all those embryos. 

It took some searching, but they found it all. Don would deal with it all at home, but right now, getting out, getting home and treating Raph was the top priority.   
……………

When they all got home, Donny, with the help of Leo, got to work setting Raph’s bones again. The screams of pain were unavoidable. April had taken Jade to her apartment so she wouldn’t have to hear the screams. 

Once the bones were in place, Don got to work making casts for his brother’s arms. 

Raphael was going to hate not being able to train, use his punching bag, or lift weights for the next 6 or so weeks. He wouldn’t even be able to hold Jade. But worst of all, he wouldn’t even be able to feed himself. He hated the prospect of his brothers having to feed him like they fed Jade. 

If Raph was going to let anyone do it, he would let Don do it. And his condition was, Don had to be holding Jade when he fed him. 

Don was happy to oblige. He knew this was hard on Raph. All of them depended so much on their hands for nearly everything. 

And after Don had had Raph treated, he had Leatherhead come over and locate the new tube put in his body and had it surgically removed. It had just been a small incision in his right side. He wouldn’t be pregnant this time around.   
……………..

It wasn’t easy dealing with a grumpy Raphael for next several weeks. When a month was up, Don finally let him switch to some arm braces after the casts were cut off. 

Raph hadn’t been able to handle Jade at all during that time. And still wasn’t until his hands and arms were healed. 

Mikey often made fun of him and he couldn’t hit him upside the head during the healing time either. Raph vowed he would so get Mikey back big time when his arms healed. Though Don and Leo would sometimes whack Mikey for him if he was close by them. 

Don also looked at the information that Beatrice had gotten from watching him from when she had him and also found out that the eggs that were used were a human‘s, and then bonded with turtle DNA. And his sperm had been needed extra to fertilize them fully. It was a three way fertilization. 

All of his babies would have been special with this kind of fertilization. Don decided to keep the information, but he would destroy the other embryos, except for the ones that Leatherhead had. There had been up to 8 other embryos frozen. 

He did feel a little guilty for doing it, but it would be hard taking care of that many babies. And it was a way of Beatrice losing what she wanted even though she was now dead herself.   
…………….

Leo sometimes thought about how he had killed that woman, but he had done it to protect Don and his family from future dealings with her. He didn’t regret it, but he still felt guilty for killing so quickly in cold blood. 

He knew that Don understood and didn’t blame him one bit for what happened.  
.........

Christmas soon came again and when their friends came over, they were surprised to see Raph even wearing the braces, but they were told of what happened. But they were more than surprised to see little baby, Jade. 

“This is my daughter, Jade.” Don introduced the baby turtle. “She is a baby that was born to me by very unconventional means, but she is very special.” 

“Indeed she is.” The Ultimate Daimyo said. “I see she has much potential. Welcome to fatherhood, Donatello. It will be the most challenging and rewarding of your life.” 

“Thanks, Lord Daimyo.” Don said. 

All of the family’s friends admired little Jade, and as long as they had clean hands, they were allowed to hold her too. Don just didn’t want little Jade getting sick. 

This Christmas, Jade could eat alongside Don, only baby food instead of the adult food. But she was sitting in a high chair next to his seat, so he had to sit on the edge of the table. 

It was a fun Christmas. By being able to wear just the braces now, Raph’s injuries were nearly healed, but Don said he still wasn’t ready to do anything training wise. Or he could end up breaking them all over again.   
………….

After the Christmas holiday, in January, Don said Raph could finally take the braces off and see if he could lift light weights and see how it felt. 

The red banded turtle lifted the small weights and said, “This is virtually feeling like child’s play!” 

“So, they feel fine?” Don asked. 

“Yes, they do. I’m ready for bigger challenges.” 

“For now, Raph, just work with these. In a week, let’s see how you do with something bigger, but you just stopped wearing the braces. Let your arms build up the strength again.” Don said. 

“I can’t wait!”   
…………….

A week later, Raph was back to being able to weight train, and spar against his brothers. It had been a long couple of months for him. He had so much to catch up on and the biggest thing was getting Mikey back for all the times he had laughed at him. 

Don gave him the all clear to do what he wanted again.   
………….

Don reflected often on when Leo had killed Beatrice, but he was glad he had done what he did. Now she was no longer a threat to him or his family. 

Donny loved having Jade in his life even though her life had first started out as something that he didn’t even want in the first place.


	28. Chapter 28

Two years had passed. 

Leatherhead had kept the tube frozen for a couple of years, and finally, Don was ready to have another baby. He knew it was again, unnatural, but with a lack of females, this was the only way there were going to be some more baby turtles in the lair. 

Leatherhead implanted the tube back into Don’s abdominal cavity and let things take its course. 

Within a month, Don began to experience symptoms like he did with his first two little ones. 

His family watched over him and felt bad that he had to go through this sickness again, but Don knew it would be worth it if he got Jade at least one sibling. 

Jade was now 2 years old and quite the rambunctious toddler. She was always curious and loved to play. Her Uncle Mikey was the best one to give her someone to play with. 

She was close with all her uncles, grandfather, dad, and aunt. April and Casey were her adoptive aunt and uncle. And even now, April and Casey were now parents to a son, Adam. He had mostly Casey’s looks, but April’s eyes. 

A lot of the time now, Jade’s uncles had to take more care of her while Don often felt like down in the dumps with the morning sickness. 

They all spoiled Jade in some ways, but they also had to make sure that she obeyed the rules. 

Mikey had watched some kid raising shows on TV, one of them being called Super Nanny. And the others were even intrigued with it. They wanted to get started as early as possible with discipline so Jade wouldn’t cause big trouble later on. 

They wanted to try something different than what their dad had done on them growing up, which had been hitting at times. Don didn’t want his daughter hit, or the kids that were coming. 

From what had been left in that tube, there had been three left, and this time, Don got pregnant with all 3 of them. And three was much harder to deal with.   
…………..

Don was quite uncomfortable while carrying all three. He was glad when he stopped being sick, but now he had a growing appetite and his stomach was much bigger than it was with Jade at month 5. 

Jade had been told by now that she was going to be a big sister. Daddy would still love her as always, but she could learn to help care for her younger siblings too. But things were going to be changing when her siblings were born. 

One more crib was made so there would be a bed for the triplets. Don and his family had to think up three names this time instead of just one. And he was more than willing to accept their thoughts. But only he would decide what names he liked best. 

As Leo and his two brothers watched Don going through this beautiful and yet, hard time, he had an idea. He got them together and they had a private talk. 

“Hey guys, I was just wondering, we know we all love Jade and take care of her, but since Don told us of how all his babies had been made, what if Don might let us consider adopting his other three? If that is you want kids. This might be our only chance for having one of our own. They would still be Don’s of course, but do you guys want one of your own?”

“I know I do!” Mikey nearly shouted with excitement. 

“Shh! Keep it down Shell for Brains!” Raph scolded. 

“Sorry.” 

“Sure Leo. But it’s only if Donny’s agreeable to it.” Raph said. 

Leo had just been thinking about this as he really wanted kids of his own and didn’t think it was ever possible otherwise. If Don would let him adopt one of his, it might be a miracle. 

They kept it quiet for awhile till they were sure they had prepared enough to talk to their pregnant brother. They knew he could be rather emotional right now. 

Finally, the trio went to him.

“Hey Don.” Leo greeted him. Don was in his lab. 

“Hey guys. What’s up?” Don replied. 

“We wanted to ask you something. We hope this doesn’t upset you, but since you have Jade, and with the three that are coming, would it be possible, since we know that the triplets are going to be a lot of work, would you let us adopt each one of the triplets? So we could have one to care for too? You would still be their dad, but we might like to raise a child nearly like our own too.” Leo explained. 

Don gave his brothers an instant shocked expression. 

“You would be like their mother, Donny. Which you are that too. But we just thought it would be a good experience to raise one of our own each too. And it’s next to impossible for us to have one. So we just wanted to know if you would let us?” Mikey added on to Leo’s explanation. 

Don looked down. 

“Donny?” Raph said. 

“I- I need some time to think about this, guys.” Don said. 

“Sure, take all the time you need. We just wanted you to maybe consider it. We are all the parents of your kids. You being both parents in one of course, but we are helping you raise Jade and will be helping out with these three too.” Leo said. 

“Please go away for now. I need to be alone.” Don said. 

Leo, Raph, and Mikey could see that Don was getting upset. So they quickly left the lab. 

“Man, it was just a suggestion. He seemed to be starting to cry.” Mikey said. 

“Mikey, if you recall, he did miscarry his son awhile back. Maybe that’s why its hard for him. But just give him his space and let him think it through. He might change his mind, but if he doesn’t, we’ll be there for him and just help him out with them.” Leo said. 

Raph then spoke up, “Well, if Don wants to keep one, then I’ll let him have the one he would let me have. But for now, we jus’ got to wait for his decision.” 

Mikey and Leo were really wanting a baby to raise as their own. They could see why Raph might have some objections to be like a father, but he at least had been open to it. 

In the lab, now that his brothers had brought it up, would it be okay to let his brothers adopt his offspring? 

After losing his son two weeks after Jade had been born two years ago, he hadn’t taken that well at all. It was amazing these fetuses had made it as far as they had. Why had Niaz died and these three lived? But Don wasn’t doubting them. He just wondered. 

He thought very carefully for the next several days over the matter. Anytime he was near his brothers, he could see the question in their eyes if he had decided yet. 

When Don thought about it, the way the babies had been made with the special blend of DNA, maybe his brothers could be a part of it too. They were all great caretakers of Jade, even Raph. They did deserve chances at being able to attempt fatherhood now that they had some experience. This might be their only chances to be dads since finding girls who loved them was next to impossible. 

It was a hard decision, but one day, Don finally gathered his brothers in his lab. 

“I have come to a decision. If you guys think you are ready for this kind of commitment, and I know you want kids of your own, and raising these three is going to be a challenge for me alone, and I do have Jade to worry about as it is, I’ll let you each raise one of my kids as your own, but I also have a condition.” Don said. 

“Condition?” Mikey asked. 

“Yes. If you want to be considered their fathers other than me, and of which since I know my babies are unique in their making from how they were made, maybe a part of you can be put into them as well.” Don explained. 

The trio’s eye ridges raised. Was he saying what they thought he was? 

“So, what are you saying, Donny?” Leo asked. 

“I’m saying that when my babies are born, and the one each of you choose, is that I take some of your DNA and put it into your chosen baby. That way, you all will have a part of a child too, just mixed with mine and the other DNA already in the makeup.” Don said. 

This was something serious to think about. But it was like a way of how they could be dads too, but they would still be Don’s babies. But mixing the DNA would be like as if they had reproduced with each other, and Don had considered that his brothers deserved a part of themselves to be passed on too. 

Though Don just hoped that there would be nothing wrong with blending of the DNA of his brothers’, his, and the other DNA in the babies. 

For right now, the DNA merging would be kept secret from their father and their friends. But it was let out that Don was going to let his brothers each have one of the babies. Their friends were happy that Don was letting this happen, as his brothers would probably never have a chance at true fatherhood otherwise on their own without finding a woman that could carry any babies for them. 

Don did tell his brothers that if they were dealing with a smart child though later on, they would know it was definitely his. But he wanted his kids to carry a part of his brothers too. And with the DNA combination, maybe they would. 

He did think about what could happen after the merging, as would maybe one baby might inherit Leo’s love and focus for Ninjitsu, the one with Mikey might inherit Mikey’s very silly personality and short attention span, but maybe with his DNA in the mix, maybe Mike’s wouldn’t have the problem. But the main other thing with Raph’s he was concerned about would be the hot temper. But maybe Don’s level head would be more seen in Raph’s chosen child.

So many things to think about.


	29. Chapter 29

Some time later, more baby supplies were gotten, but this time, the Baby Shower was for all the turtles instead of just Don this time. The trio would need their own supplies for their baby. 

Don would let his brothers name their chosen baby. It was a slight pressure taken off of him. He had named Jade and Niaz. 

Donny was 8 months pregnant now and he was happy to have made it this far in the pregnancy. Maybe these three were meant to be gifts to his brothers. 

Leatherhead checked him every two weeks and all three were all strong and healthy. Healthy hearts and movements that often would keep Don up when it was time to sleep and made it hard to find a comfortable position to lie down. 

Leo, Raph, and Mikey were all allowed to see the babies on the sonograms. Of course, they had no idea which baby they would choose until after birth. But they thought they were all cute. And Don did allow them to rub his stomach at times, which did seem to soothe them. 

The babies were even responding to their voices too. Something loud could easily startle them. 

And once again, around this time in the pregnancy, Don had to once again, start on bed rest quite a bit more so there wouldn’t be so many risks of maybe going into a premature labor. Course Don had never went into labor with Jade, but it was still possible it could happen. Given he had triplets in his belly this time, he might need to have them sooner this time. Don hoped they wouldn’t have to come too early though. 

These babies were going to be due in June. Around the 20th if not before then. The turtles couldn’t wait. 

And because of the babies coming and Don’s brothers to be somewhat expectant fathers soon, they all had to be careful on their patrols now.   
……………. 

Donatello did make it to the ninth month again. He had done well with this pregnancy. Now it was just a waiting game. 

The brainy turtle kept himself pretty entertained with his laptop, books, and games played with his brothers. Big inventions were out of the question at the moment, but he was still allowed to fix something if it could be done from the couch or his bed. 

Even though he knew he might be doing the right thing with letting his brothers adopt these three, Don still had deep attachments to them. He knew they weren’t going anywhere, but it was still a little nerve wracking. 

During all these months, all of the adults had been trying to make sure that Jade was going to be prepared for the arrival of the babies. She was excited, but she just worried if her dad and uncles would get too busy with 3 new babies to take care of. 

“You will always be taken of, Jade, no matter what. We all love you.” Don said to Jade while she was sitting on his bed one day. Then he let her come up to him and snuggle with him.   
……………….

The big day soon arrived. 

Don had felt some pains going through his midsection one morning and the babies were making him extremely uncomfortable. He couldn’t take it anymore! 

Don was at his 37th week. 

It was a little early, but they were full term babies now. They could survive being born this early. 

Don was once again prepared for surgery in the sterile environment made up in his infirmary. Leatherhead had moved in during the eighth month to make sure everything went ok. And right now, the big croc and April were fulfilling Don’s operation. 

Casey, Splinter, and Don’s brothers all waited outside the room. Leo, Mike, and Raph were all expectant fathers now, not just uncles this time. Master Splinter held his granddaughter. Jade was curious about her new siblings. But when they would be adopted by her uncles, they would become more like cousins too. 

Don was put under and for the third time in his life, his plastron was opened up, but this time, three babies were gotten out of their special wombs. 

Each womb was opened up one by one, and then cut away from that tube. Then the tube was removed. 

Each baby cried once the airway was cleared and they were all cleaned up. 

Everyone on the outside was happy to be hearing three different cries. Now they just wanted to know what the sexes were. 

There were two more girls and a boy this time. At least Don had had another son. And all three looked like their father with his olive coloring and almond shaped eyes. 

Once they were all allowed into the infirmary to see the triplets, Don’s brothers were just happy they were healthy, if a little bit smaller than how Jade had been. 

Jade was curious at such tiny little turtles. Were they going to be ones she could play with? Of course, eventually. 

Leo, Mike, and Raph couldn’t decide on who to choose at the moment. The two girls were in pink bundles and the boy was in a blue bundle. 

Once the babies were checked on, Don was checked on and he was still asleep, and was doing fine. His stomach and plastron had been patched up real well. Now he was in for another long recovery, and it would all be worth it. 

The trio did get more good looks at the babies and they each picked one up and went to sit by Don’s bedside, waiting for him to wake up. 

Splinter was pleased at having more grandchildren, but given his age now, it would be more difficult for him to look after 4 kids on his own. 

Leatherhead liked how he had been able to be a part of all this. It made him feel needed and special. 

Seeing the triplets was making April feel like wanting a second child of her own. Casey loved his own son as much as April did. Adam was at his grandmother’s while the birth of Don’s babies had been going on. He would have chances to see them later. 

As each brother looked down at the little one they were holding, they were thinking that this baby in their arms would be their adoptive child. 

Mikey loved Jade, but he had always wanted a nephew. He was holding the only boy. Leo held the bigger girl. And Raph held the smallest girl. And they all had their names ready to go too. They would all present them with the baby when Donny awoke. 

When Don did wake up, he was very groggy. But his brothers waited for him to become more focused before showing him the best gifts he gave them. 

His brothers showed him his two daughters and son. Once he was awake enough, they let him hold them. He would always be welcome to that as their ‘mother’ so to speak. Don was definitely more than happy to have another son. And he still loved his two new girls too. 

Soon, Jade was let in to see her dad. She was happy to see him awake finally. She just wanted to give him a big hug. 

Her uncles took her siblings from Don and Don welcomed her up, but with great restriction because of his stomach. 

“You’re going to have to take it easy for awhile when you give me hugs, Jade. My tummy’s going to be sore for awhile.” Don explained. 

“Sorry, Daddy. I try to be a good girl.” She said. 

“I know. I’m just telling you now.” Don said and allowed her to hug and kiss him. Then he turned to his brothers. “So, are those ones are the ones you want?” 

They all nodded. “They’re beautiful, Donny.” Leo said. 

“Thank you. And what have you decided on names?” Don asked. 

All during the pregnancy, the trio had each been thinking of two names, one for each sex, depending of what baby they chose. 

Raph spoke up first. “I would choose Carl if it was a boy, but since I’m choosing a girl, I’ll call her Karla instead.” 

“It’s pretty. You know what it means?” Don asked. 

“I think I remember it means ‘bright-eyed.’” Raph replied. “And she is a bright eyed little one.” He smiled down at Karla. 

Mikey looked down at his nephew, but now his son. He wanted him to have a very unique name. Before the triplets had been born, he had been hoping for a boy from the beginning. 

“I’ve chosen Mason. It means ’ingenious and reliable.’ I’m sure he will be, like his real dad.” Mikey said to Don. 

“Thanks, Mikey. That’s a nice one.” 

Leo was last. He had liked Japanese names. “I choose a Japanese name for mine. It’s Hideko. It means ’excellence.’ And she is pure excellence, Donny.” He commended his brother. 

“Thank you.” Don said. And he was glad he was able to give each of his brothers a child just as he had Jade. 

Don held each of them as well. They would always be his, but he wanted to grant his brothers’ wishes too, of being able to experience parenthood. 

The others soon took the babies and Jade out and allowed Donny to get some much needed rest.   
……………

Don’s surgery this time had been more intense than his first one. It took a while for the worst of the pain in his stomach to dissipate enough for him to even move about the lair. LH and April kept him on painkillers and it made him tired a lot. 

While he was recovering, Jade was taken care of more by her uncles. She marveled at the new babies, but she still felt a little left out, like she wouldn’t be paid attention too anymore. But her uncles were doing all they could right now to care for each baby and her. Her grandpa helping too. 

A little over a week later, when Don was seeming to be well enough, he finally agreed it was time for the DNA mix if his brothers were ready for it. They were ready to get it over with. 

Leatherhead had now gone home when he felt Don was well enough and his family could take his recovery from there. 

Reluctantly, each of Don’s brothers had blood collected from each of them by Don, and though they didn’t like to see their new children cry, this was going to be done. 

Don hated to do it, but he injected each one of his brother’s DNA into their chosen child. He hoped blood type didn’t matter like it did in humans. But it was just a way for his brothers to have some of their DNA in their baby. 

After that, they all tried to comfort their adopted child. Now there was a part of each of them in the babies too that could make them be blood related to their kids in a way. But it would still take time to see if the kids turned out like their dad, Don, or them in any way. 

Don knew that Leo and Mikey would be good fathers, but he was a little worried about Raph. He would watch his hothead brother very carefully. 

Raph himself was also worried if he was going to be a good dad. He went to Don one day and told him if he ever showed his temper toward Leo or was mad about something else, he would leave it up to Don to take care of Karla. 

Don was fine with that. He didn’t want Raph showing his temper to his daughter anyway if it could be helped. He promised to help Raph out as much as he could, as well as his other brothers if needed.   
…………..

Now that the family was raising four kids instead of just one, it made it a lot more complicated for the guys to go out on patrols at night. 

Don would be home for awhile while he was still recovering. But then, Splinter, April and Casey also needed to help him out too, as Jade also required attention as well. 

Jade did at times feel left out like any little girl her age when her dad and uncles were taking care of Karla, Mason, and Hideko. But the adults tried to make it clear to her that they still loved her very much, it was just that babies needed a lot more care. And in time, they would be the age that she was and not be as dependent on them. 

Though there would always be risks for the turtle family, they would make sure to protect the kids and as they were turned into, they would make sure to turn Don’s kids into an incredible fighting team, no matter what enemies threw at them.


	30. Chapter 30

Epilogue

Over the years, all of Don's kids showed that they were definitely his offspring, with developing very high smarts like him. But after having been injected with their adoptive dads' blood, the three triplets did also show some traits associated with Leo, Raph, and Mikey as well.

Jade, as the oldest at age 9, was proving to be like a leader to her younger siblings and she tried to act grown up at times. And she learned much from her dad. She loved spending time with him when he wasn't too busy with projects. But he always made time for her in the day.

Hideko was very smart and she liked to ask questions to her dad, Leo. Leo taught all the kids their ninja skills mainly, with his brothers helping out, but his daughter was the most persistent in the questions. She was a very good student, and she loved studying with Don. Leo did wonder if his daughter had the makings to be the next leader, but he saw that since Jade was the oldest, she would probably make the next leader. Jade just had more maturity for such a young child.

Raph tried to watch his temper around Karla. He was gentle with her unless she disobeyed him. It wasn't often. Her feelings got hurt easily and she often went to Don for comfort. He didn't hit her, but his loud voice could give her a good scare. The same went with the other kids as well.

Mikey's adopted son often felt a little lonely for being the only boy in the group of kids. But Mason was also happy as well. Mikey made him real happy with jokes and gave him cooking lessons. And then he got to be shown special projects by Don to make sure he would understand, things that Mikey never could. The deep words that went into conversations of science. He would also pick on his sisters a little bit too.

Don loved all the kids, and would be there for all of them as he was needed. Karla was the one he often had to comfort the most. She was an emotional little girl, but she had a little hot side at times too. Especially if Mason pulled a prank on her.

He was proud of how Jade was being a leader to her younger siblings and she did like having sisters.

And he did feel a little extra special closeness with Mason, being his only son. Now at age 7, Don had told his son that he had once had a little brother, but just didn't make it. Mason wouldn't have minded having a brother.

Don saw that Hideko was a real calm and understanding and yet, very curious little girl. She had so many traits of himself and Leo.

All of the kids also loved Mikey's cooking and jokes. This was what Mikey's childish side was good for now. He would read them stories, help them draw, and do activities with them when their other dads might be busy.

Splinter was still around, but he was very limited in what he could do now, as his health was getting bad in his old age. He loved his grandkids dearly and would often tell them stories of their dads when they were little. He would keep on doing what he was doing until it was his time.

And over the years, April and Casey had had another child of their own as well. The second one was a girl named July (pronounced like Julie). She had April's red hair and Casey's blue eyes. She would soon be entering kindergarten.

Their son, Adam, was also quite close with Mason. This was as close as it got to Mason having another boy to hang with, and now that he was in school, Adam was told to make sure that he never told his friends about the turtles. It was confusing for him, but he promised. The same would go for his sister.

With the family having expanded, and the kids growing up so beautifully, they all had a bright future ahead. Donatello especially was happy at how his own family had accepted what he had gone through all those years ago back at the beginning of one experiment. It had been hard at first, but he had gotten through it all. And he was happy he gave his brothers the miracle to be able to experience fatherhood too. And from here, things could only get better.

And though the kids didn't know about how they came into the world, the guys preferred the way it was now, but they would come up with a way to explain to the kids someday about their origin. Don for sure knew the kids would be curious about why there was no real mother turtle here. He hoped they would be older than the age they were at now before they asked. Because he knew he was the 'mother' turtle. The girls would want to know indefinitely sooner or later the most.

There would always be the children testing the guys in what they needed to know to do the right thing, but they would all be there to guide them in the right direction as much as possible. And raising them to be a fighting team for if they were ever discovered, there would be chances of being turned into test subjects and they never wanted that. It would haunt Don for how it all started out in the first place. But in the end, his kids were all experimental blessings.


End file.
